Lost
by Westhaven18
Summary: She has no idea where she came from, who she is, or how she knows what she does. All she knows is that this sword is hers.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ouch!

That hurt!

She winced and sat up, dazed. There was a host of bizarre creatures – _demons_, whispered her mind – slowly coming around to surround her.

As she took stock of her situation, she realized that each of the demons clutched a weapon or had their claws and teeth bared. _Not friendly_, her mind hissed.

Well, duh! She thought to herself.

The demons seemed to be extremely wary of her. Gods only knew why; she felt as though she had been trampled on, she had no weapon, and she was… ah, crap.

One of them had finally overcome his fear and was charging her.

A stab of fear shot through her. What was happening?

Suddenly, she was on her feet and the demon was on the ground, screaming over an arm bent the wrong way. The fearful part of her had been shoved to the back of her mind and strange sort of calm swept over her like a cool wind.

The rest of the demons came forward, weapons, claws and teeth bared.

Her body moved. There was no thought behind it. She just moved.

She leapt into the air to let the demons charging her from the front and back smack into each other. With a graceful flip, she landed lightly on the outside of their ring and was just about to step forward to deal with the remainder of them when her eye caught something lying on the ground.

A sword.

_Katana…_ supplied her mind.

Without even thinking, she kicked the handle up into her hand and held it out defensively in front of her. The handle – _hilt_ – felt oddly familiar in her hand. Almost comforting.

In any case, she held it with the grace of one who knew who to use it. But… that didn't make sense – _Think about that later!_ Her mind commanded.

With the katana positioned away from her body, she darted into their midst and started swinging. No, swinging wasn't the right word. It was more like a complicated dance that she made up the moves to as she went along. Horizontal slash, dodge around the big guy to her right and slit his throat, jump and stab the blue guy to her other right, use his falling body as a springboard to launch herself at the winged demons diving down at her, slice the first one in the face as she went past, slash another's wing, give another a gash in the chest. _Why are they moving so slow? _When she finally came to a halt in the branches of a nearby tree, she turned and looked back at her results.

Half a dozen demons were lying on the ground, about two stirring feebly in the dirt and the other four motionless while the blood pooled out beneath them. The other two dozen or so were staggering to a stop and gasping in shock at the sight of their dead companions. What was with them? She hadn't been moving that fast! Why were they waiting so long to counter attack?

"_You cannot stop during an attack, do you understand me? You must always keep in motion, even when changing directions. And never, ever, let your blade relax until all of your enemies are dead."_

The next thing she knew she was on her knees clutching her throbbing head and huddling against the tree trunk.

Raising her head carefully, she saw several demons hurtling towards her. She gripped her sword in her right hand and the branch she was crouched on with her left, and swung herself down, kicked against the tree for leverage and shot towards them like a rocket. As she came, she noticed that they were all moving in slow motion. Did that mean they were really slow? Or was she just really fast?

Then it was time for her to attack and it suddenly didn't matter anymore as she brought the blade across chests, faces and throats with lightning speed and pinpoint accuracy.

When her feet touched the ground less than eight seconds later, she dropped into a roll to avoid a club swinging towards her face and cut out hamstrings mercilessly. Someone managed to land a glancing blow on her shoulder that nevertheless threw her off balance and she was forced to do an awkward crouch-stagger to keep herself moving in the right direction. She whipped out her leg at knee level and grinned viciously as the demons around her went down.

Immediately she was back on her feet and finishing off the grounded demons as quickly as her aching arms would allow.

The demons were now all dead, comatose, or had fled. She was alone. She could somehow sense it.

Now that she no longer had her life to worry about, she was finally able to take stock of her condition.

She hurt. All over. Her legs, her arms, her chest, and her head – gods, that hurt worst of all! She raised a hand and gingerly ran it over her head and through her hair.

Owowow! She grimaced as she hit a painful, wet spot. She looked at her hand. It was covered in bright red blood.

Her head was bleeding.

Fantastic.

With a growl she flipped the sword she still held in her right hand and slipped it into the scabbard on her back… wait, what?

She turned her head very slowly to look at the plain black scabbard lying across her back as though it belonged there. She blinked at the sight of the simple katana sitting neatly inside the case.

How. The. Hell. Had. She. Done. That??

And how had she been able to fight like that? And kill like that?

She glanced at the dead bodies at her feet and waited for the guilt that accompanied the killing of a person.

There was nothing. She felt absolutely no remorse for killing these demons. None at all.

That made her feel guilty. Weren't you supposed to at least feel a little bit guilty when you killed someone?

The voice in the back of her head spoke up, _They would have felt no remorse for you._

This brought up another question, what had that voice been when she was fighting? The one that had spoken of constant motion?

She couldn't remember where she had heard it.

She sighed and tried to think about where she was supposed to be going.

There was a mental blank. She didn't know where she was supposed to be.

Okay, who was she supposed to be with? Was she traveling alone?

There was no answer. She didn't know that either.

Okay then. If she couldn't remember her companions or her destination, then she should just go home. People had homes, didn't they? She was sure of that. People had homes. She was a person. She had to have a home.

So where was it?

Her mind gave her no answers.

She tried to remember which way it was.

She couldn't.

Okay, okay… she was just lost, that was all.

If she had a home, she had to have a family right?

She tried to remember them. She couldn't remember.

Now she was starting to feel distinctly panicky. She couldn't remember her family. Or her friends.

I might not have any, she thought bracingly. I must know my name, what's my name?

Her memory was a blank.

Horror rose in her mind so fast that she nearly overbalanced.

"_Never let your emotions control you!"_

Even as nausea hit her stomach, she found herself pushing away the fear and returning to practical position. Okay, she didn't know her name. What did she remember?

She remembered waking up to a sharp pain in her head and the demons surrounding her a few minutes ago. That was it. Beyond was nothing but emptiness.

The pain in her head suddenly made sense.

Amnesia.

She had hit her head and given herself amnesia.

But how did you manage to hit yourself on the head – or have someone hit it for you – hard enough to get amnesia but not kill you?

Was she stronger than average or had they just hit her the right-

_The blue demon snatched her slender arm in his hamlike fist and threw her away from him. _

_She flew several feet before she collided with something very big and hard and solid. She hit head first and whatever it was broke like a matchstick. _Good thing I've got a hard head…

The pain in her head was so intense she thought her skull was falling to pieces. Pressing her hands to her face, she took deep slow breaths and tried to control her ragged gasps.

When she was at last able to stand, she noticed a tree that had been broken in half about halfway up the trunk. Judging by the break someone had thrown something mid-sized and round against the tree that had snapped it like a small cannonball. Or a very small head.

She nearly laughed out loud. Did she really think she had been thrown into a tree head first and survived? That was just too ridiculous. _Unless you're a demon, too._

A demon? Her?

Wouldn't she remember if she was a demon?

_If you could remember being a demon, you could remember your name too_, the voice in her head informed her coolly.

She groaned. Well, whether she was a demon or not, she still had to get moving. It wasn't wise to stick around a battleground.

But where to go…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She turned slowly on the spot, hoping to recognize something. Nope, all she could see were trees.

The sound of whispering leaves, various animal noises, and… the sound of running water?

She turned towards the soft tinkling sound of water. Should she head towards the water? There were often settlements around rivers and lakes. Maybe she lived around one of them. If nothing else, she could at least clean herself up and get something to drink – she was thirsty and the blood trickling down her brow was getting annoying. But then… others lived by water, some she didn't want to mess with while she was amnesiac.

At last, she shrugged and took off running towards the water – vaguely noticing that the trees were whizzing by far too quickly. When it finally occurred to her that she was moving far too quickly to be a human, she turned her head from side to side, watching the trees whip past her line of sight as blurs of green.

That settled it, she decided, she _wasn't _human. Did that make her a demon? The thought of being a demon didn't disturb her at all; had she known it subconsciously then?

That made sense, she hadn't really freaked out when she had dealt with the mob of demons either, she had simply dealt with them. Mercilessly. Just because she couldn't consciously remember how to take down a dozen idiot demons didn't mean her body didn't remember the necessary moves. She wondered how she had known those moves in the first place. Had the voice she heard taught her how to fight? It had spoken of fighting and not allowing her emotions to control her – but had he even been speaking to her? Hmmm…

But back to being a demon. Was she one? That would explain the incredible speed – she remembered how slow the other demons had seemed in comparison to her – and the acrobatics she seemed to possess. But didn't demons have certain powers? She frowned thoughtfully and – tripped.

Stumbling, she found herself on the banks of the river she had heard before catching her balance. A strong feeling of shame was now building in her chest. First the amnesia and now almost falling flat on her face! Where is all my training when I need it –

She froze, training? What training? She tried to grab hold of the thought but it slipped from her mind like the river rushing past her feet.

Someone trained me, she thought feverishly. That has to mean that someone knows me – knows who I am. She tried again to remember her past but all she received for her trouble was a headache. Ah well, at least she knew for sure that someone had known her.

With a deep sigh, she began scanning the banks of the river for any signs of life. That weird sense that had told her she was alone after her first fight was now telling her she was alone except for a host of harmless animals. She debated for a moment on whether or not to trust this intuition and at last 

decided that it would be best just to go along with it. It wasn't like she didn't have enough to worry about already.

She knelt before the river and carefully dipped her hands into the water. The liquid felt marvelously cool on her warm hands and she raised both her cupped hands to the wound on her head. The water stung a bit as she rinsed out the gash and long strands of black and silver hair fell into her face and stuck to her cheeks. She brushed them aside with quick, absent flicks of her fingers.

When she finally deemed her injury clean, she began rooting about in her pockets for something to bind the wound with. Nothing.

With the realization that she actually had pockets, she took a good look at her clothes. In the stress of her battle, realizing she had amnesia, and then finding her injury, she hadn't even thought about her clothes. It turned out she was wearing plain black trousers that were cinched tightly around her waist with a thick black belt. The pants were cut generously and fell simply to brush the tops of sleek black boots. Her shirt was a form fitting dark red top that hugged every single curve without being too tight. Over it was a loose black jacket she wore unzipped with the belt holding her katana sheath on her back strapped diagonally across her chest – her well formed chest, she noted with an odd sense of distaste.

Her curiosity mounting, she leaned over the river, wanting to see her reflection. Maybe, she thought with a jolt of excitement, maybe it'll jog my memory! She looked down.

And blinked.

Her reflection blinked back.

But that wasn't her reflection. It couldn't be.

Her mind was reeling with distaste at the vision before her.

The girl looking up at her from the water was beautiful. Disgustingly beautiful.

She had a dainty little face with high perfect cheekbones and a delicate chin that tapered off perfectly into a soft but firm chin. She had huge eyes the color of rubies surrounded by long thick feathery lashes that brushed her cheek gently when she blinked.

Which was often.

Almost as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Her nose was delicately straight and short and her mouth was small and neat, with smooth pink lips that any man would find agonizingly irresistible.

The long hair that was brushing her slender shoulders was half silver, half black, the two colors battling for dominance, and wild. It tangled over her shoulders in a mess of bright waves.

She scowled at the nymph in the water. The nymph glared back.

Why wasn't she leaving? She thought in irritation; the idiot spirit was blocking her view of her reflection.

She slapped the surface of the water with her palm and waited until the ripples smoothed out, hoping the obnoxious spirit would leave her the hell alone and let her see her reflection.

No such luck.

Swallowing her growing trepidation, she stared harder at the vision in the water. It wasn't as perfect as she had thought. Its face was bruised around the right temple, right cheek bone and had a nasty cut on the right side of the face, stretching from front jaw region almost to the ear.

It was wearing a loose black jacket and a red shirt, the hilt of a katana peeked out over the right shoulder.

Just like her.

She leaned a little closer, narrowing her eyes a bit. The vision did as well.

She put her hands to the place the wicked cut would have been on her own face and was rewarded with a sharp twinge. The other copied her movements, even to her wince of pain.

She sat back with a thump. Well, hell, that _was_ her. She leaned forward to look again, one eyebrow arched in disbelief. Her reflection looked back at her, eyebrow arched incredulously.

Yup, definitely her.

A feeling of sharp disgust welled up in her as she looked at her flawless reflection. She hadn't asked for this. She hadn't asked for this stupid face that had man and demon alike tripping over their own feet or choking on their tongues. They didn't take her seriously! They thought they could waltz into her life promising happiness and marriage and – _shudder_ – children.

But she didn't want that. She had never wanted that.

She wanted to become a warrior – a great one. Better than her father before –

_Wait. Pause. Hold that thought!_

She made a desperate mental grab for that one angry thought. Her father. It had said her father!

_Who is he?_ She asked herself. _Where is he? Is he waiting for me?_

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember.

Nothing came. Nothing except a raging headache.

She fought the urge to find another group of idiot demons to massacre and sighed deeply.

So she had a father. And he was – or had been – a warrior. A great one.

She wondered if she had liked him and if he had liked her too. Or was she simply trying to become a better warrior than him so she could destroy him? Had she hated him? Was he – was he dead?

A dull ache began in her chest and spread throughout her torso. It was so heavy and crushing a feeling, she thought her lungs would be crushed.

Well, it seemed she didn't want her father dead.

It seemed to terrify her, in fact.

Did that mean she liked him? That she knew him then?

There was mental silence.

"Great," she muttered aloud. "More questions."

She dipped her hands into the water again, cupped them, and then raised them up to her lips to drink. The water was cool and delicious. She took several more sips before lifting her head to peer up at the sky.

The sun was sinking below the treeline on the other side of the river. It was almost dusk and the sky was already beginning to darken to mauve and navy. She could even see a few stars coming out. How had she missed that? She had been sure that it was early afternoon after she had defeated those pathetic demons.

She didn't look away from the sky as she shrugged carelessly. She chalked it up to her mental disarray.

What to do now…

She had to find a place to sleep; sleeping on the ground was not an option, there were too many unknown things about this forest and she didn't want to wake up surrounded by bloodthirsty demons again. Or not all.

A stray thought wandered into her mind. _Got to find a good tree to sleep in, not too tall, not too short, not too many branches, and one with a good sturdy branch…_

A tree? A _tree?!_ She slept in _trees_?!

What the hell was she, a ninja?

She shook her head in disbelief but decided to just go with the thought and find a tree to sleep in. She walked away from the river, looking about for the 'right' type of tree to sleep in. Luckily, it seemed that the subconscious part of her memory seemed to have taken charge of her bodies and she found herself striding past big, strong trees, rejecting all likely candidates with careless flicks of her eyes.

Finally, she seemed to have found what she was looking for. A big oak tree whose trunk split into a fork about thirty feet off the ground, just high enough for the lower branches on the surrounding trees to hide anyone who chose to roost there from a casual or not-so-casual passerby.

The more she looked at it, the less she understood how it could be comfortable to sleep in. On the other hand, she admitted reluctantly, it did look very good as a safe place to stay the night. She would have a good view in every direction, the fork was easy to defend, and if need be she could make a quick getaway – _if I don't break an ankle from the fall_, she thought rather sourly.

She walked over to the tree and looked up at the fork. How was she supposed to get up there? Her random thought hadn't given her an answer to that. It was now twilight and she didn't even want to think about what could happen if she fell out of the tree and had to spend the night on the ground.

She groaned and bent slightly, aiming for a low branch on one of the nearby trees…then stopped.

Her eyes wandered back to the chosen fork and before she knew what she was doing, she had bent her legs and jumped.

_Why the hell did I do that?!_ She mentally berated herself. _I can't jump this high! Especially not without a running start –_

She landed gracefully in the fork with one hand braced on one part of the fork to keep her upright with her other hand and her feet expertly positioned on the opposite part of the fork.

Okaaaay… Apparently she could jump thirty feet directly into the air with no running start. _I can jump even higher than this_, hissed the voice in her head.

She didn't bother trying to force the voice to tell her anything else, choosing instead to try and find a comfortable position. To her surprise, she was able to get comfortable almost immediately and found herself snuggling back into the rough bark at her back as though it was a feather down pillow.

With her mysterious sixth sense telling her that she was alone in this part of the forest, she lay her head back and closed her eyes. Sleep instantly began tugging at her eyelids and before she could do anything else, she was asleep.

_She knelt in the leaves, rearranging them in fanciful patterns, completely unconcerned by the dead bodies that lay less than twenty feet away. Let's see… another red one here, three yellows here, take this orange away…_

"_Come on. Stop playing with the leaves and let's go," said a flat voice that she nevertheless found very comforting and safe._

_Leaping to her feet, she ran over to where her companion stood sheathing a wickedly sharp katana. "What're we gonna do now?"_

_The man looked down at her. "Now we are going to stop for the night. Tell me what we're looking for."_

_She bit her lip and thought for a moment before declaring, "A tall tree with either a high fork or a strong branch!"_

_He nodded and said, "Very good."_

_She glowed with pleasure. He didn't give out compliments often and when he did, she hoarded them more jealously than jewels._

"_Keep close," he ordered, before turning and racing off into the fading light._

_She dashed after him without hesitation, focusing on his familiar demonic signature as he darted along in front of her, just beyond her sight. After a moment, she realized that she was falling farther behind; it had been a full day of training and her legs felt like jelly – she wasn't going to be able to keep up and she knew that he would leave her behind if she didn't hurry. That thought sent fresh energy into her burning limbs and she managed to go even faster, making the already blurred trees turn into nothing but green flashes in her peripheral view._

_It was then that she realized that she couldn't sense him anymore. She came to an abrupt halt and concentrated harder. Nothing._

_He had finally left her behind. The thought of being abandoned had haunted her nightmares and already she could feel a crushing sense of loss in her chest. Her father had never been overly emotional and had never even said the things that other fathers did. But he was still her father and she didn't want to lose him._

_Schooling her unhappy face into an impassive mask just as he had shown her, she sent one last sweep of power out over the surroundings to find him – and stopped._

_He had just appeared in front of her, looking rather irritated._

"_You left me," she stated matter-of-factly, practicing the deadpan look she had seen him sport so many times._

"_You couldn't keep up," he countered apathetically._

"_Now what?" she asked nonchalantly._

_He sighed and beckoned her forward, "Come here."_

_She went and squeaked as he swept her up into his arms and took off running. He had not carried her since she was four years old. She was now six and knew she should not like being carried. But she did. She liked it when her father carried her, though she knew better than to show it._

_Her father quickly found a good perch to spend the night and easily leapt up to situate himself and her in the small space. She was curled up in his lap while his katana leaned against his chest, where he could easily reach it in case he had to defend them._

_She wriggled her back into his chest, like a cat making an indentation on a favorite pillow, ignoring a scolding, "You're going to make us fall out of the tree."_

_After a few tranquil moments, she turned her head to look up at her father. He was looking over her head to the dark trees beyond, scanning for danger._

"_Do you sense anything?" he suddenly asked her._

"_No," she answered with only the slightest pause. He often did that, asking her a sudden question as though to throw her off._

_He made a soft noise of approval and did not protest as she reached a hand out to fiddle with the pretty round gem stone hanging around his neck. She loved it; it was smooth and always very cool even in the hottest hands. It seemed to calm her in a way that nothing else but her father could._

_Gripping the stone lightly in a chubby fist, she lay her head on her father's chest and –_

She sat up so quickly she nearly fell out of the tree. It was only her insane reflexes that saved her; she managed to grip the branch she had been propped up on and swing herself back up onto her perch.

Her sixth sense was going off like a siren in head and she knew instinctively what that meant.

She wasn't alone.


	3. Chapter 3

**For all of you have read this and not reviewed, know that you are stabbing me repeatedly in the heart with a knife. And dead people can't finish fics!!**

**And to all of you have begun guessing who her father is – kudos to you! :mutters to self: **_**Not that it was that hard.**_

**Ahem… now back to the story:**

Chapter 3

She craned her neck in every direction, trying to find where the feeling was coming from. The night was well upon her now, and the forest was filled with the sounds of rustlings and the strange noises of the dark. Her feeling, however, was not indicating one of those noises – it was telling her that something, or someone, was coming towards her. It also informed her that whatever it was was looking for something.

Crouching and hunching on her perch, she pressed herself expertly into the shadows of the tree and waited for the thing to get closer. Some perverse sense of curiosity insisted that she see exactly what this intruder was and what he wanted.

Whatever it was, it was being very stealthy; she knew it was only about fifty yards from her tree and she still couldn't see or hear anything. After a few minutes, her eyes caught a hint of movement to her right on the ground.

Her sense was firm about it being only one person and she quickly sorted out the facts. There was no one else about – according to her strangely accurate instinct – and people did not sneak about in about in the dead of night unless they were stalking something – _Or they might not have the senses I do and think they're not alone_, offered the ever helpful voice in her head.

In any case, she was fairly certain that whoever it was was looking for her, though she couldn't have said how she knew it.

There!

Finally, the trespasser had shown himself – if you could call a fleeting shadow showing himself – and she focused completely to identify him as hostile or just wary of his surroundings.

Well, he was definitely looking for something, he kept glancing down at the bottoms of trees as though he thought someone would be sitting there, peeking into the larger hollows of some of the trees, and looking up into the branches of the trees. The question was, was he looking for her?

She had no intention of finding that out the hard way!

She slipped up higher into the thick limbs of her tree, nestling herself in the shadows. If she waited long enough he might go away and leave her alone – she had no wish to get into a fight with someone whose abilities she knew nothing of. She found herself running her fingers nervously over the hilt of her katana, reminding herself that it was still there and ready to defend her.

The stranger passed into a moonlit area and she caught a good glimpse of him.

A man with long black hair, large black eyes, and huge bat-like ears. He was dressed differently than she was, in a long tunic belted with a soft cloth belt to hang almost to his knees and light pants that hung loosely around his legs with a sweeping robe over the entire ensemble. And there was something about him that put her teeth on edge.

Her fingers gripped the hilt harder.

He came to her tree and looked up and around the trunk.

She held her breath, her hold on the sword so hard her knuckles were bone white.

After an insanely long minute, he passed her tree and went on to the next.

She didn't relax at all as he continued to search.

Whoever he was, he seemed to be growing tired of searching – his looks were becoming quicker and his movements more impatient.

All the better for me, she thought bracingly to herself. Now, if he would just leave.

No such luck.

When he was just barely still within her sight, he turned with a snarl, marched into the center of a nearby clearing, and began to yell.

"NIIRA! I KNOW YOU'RE OUT HERE! SHOW YOURSELF!"

Niira? Was that code for something? Or was it – her heart clenched – could it possibly be… her name?

Argh!!

A stab of pain shot through her skull just as –

"_C'mon Niira!" laughed a voice. _

_She blinked and found herself holding a black and white ball. "What am I supposed to do with this?"_

_The laughing boy rolled his eyes as another boy – not nearly as handsome as the first – came up behind him, howling, "Don't tell me the great Niira doesn't know how to play soccer!"_

"_Daisuke," said a soft voice reprovingly – a girl's voice – "The games in Demon World are different than the ones here."_

_She felt a light flush crawl up the back of her neck and tried to ignore it, haughtily saying, "Hmph, we have far more important things to do in Demon World than playing foolish human games."_

_Another light female voice chuckled brightly. "Well, you're not in Demon World now; you might as well learn something about Human World."_

_She scoffed. "Why do I need to know anything about Human World?"_

_The first male voice grinned. "Well, this game is fun and if you don't want to play you can just stay on the sidelines."_

_She scowled and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to hide her growing curiosity. "What exactly is this game, soccer?"_

"_Well," he took the ball from her and set it on the ground. "The whole point is that you kick this around and try to get it into the other team's goal. There's one person who guards the goal on each team and he –"_

"_Or she!"_

"_Or she," he nodded, "Is the only one who can touch the ball with his – or her – hands. The rest of us can't. Got it? Still want to play?"_

_She tried not to shift uncomfortably. She did want to play, very much so, but she didn't know if her father would approve or not. But then… her father wasn't here – he wouldn't be back until tomorrow…_

"_Alright, I'll play."_

"_Good," said the second female voice happily. "Now we need to pick team captains!"_

_A third young boy's voice spoke. "Let's have Rai and Daisuke be team captains."_

"_Alright!" crowed the second voice – did this moron ever know when to be silent? "You just wait Urameshi! My team'll grind yours into the dust!"_

_There was a wild laugh from the first boy, "As if –"_

OW!

Godsdamnit, her head hurt!

She opened her eyes and immediately tried to scramble backwards – the stranger's face was less than a foot from hers. She was on the forest floor – apparently she had fallen off during her episode – and the man was leaning over her. With a growl, she shoved him away, simultaneously drawing her sword and leaping to her feet.

"Whoa! Whoa!" yelled the guy. "If this is about that one time I asked you to show me your tits, I was only joking!"

She had no clue what the hell he was talking about, but she didn't like the look in his eyes. The fear and confusion she could handle, but that darker gleam just made her stomach clench. "Get the hell away from me."

"What the hell is your problem?!" he demanded. "Lots of girls love it when I ask them that!"

She flexed her hands on her katana and slipped into what she somehow knew was an offensive stance – legs apart, chest balanced between them, sword medium distance away from her body, and her chin high and proud.

"C'mon Nii," he said, sinking into a fighting pose as well. "Why don't you just relax and we can discuss this like civilized demons?"

An irrational surge of anger swept through her. _How dare you call me Nii, you arrogant, perverted jackass!_

His eyes hardened. "I don't understand why you keep rejecting me. Don't you know who I am? I am the son of the mighty Yomi – one of the greatest fighters in all of Demon World!"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Had this idiot come looking for her simply to hit on her? If so, he was in for a rude awakening – she didn't know much about herself, but she did know that she had absolutely no wish to be used as some spoiled brat's sex toy.

"You're just the daughter of a pathetic swordsman who was so desperate for power he had to get a fake eye!"

Okay, why was she getting so hot under the collar? She didn't even understand what this man was talking about – she couldn't even remember her father – yet she was still getting very angry.

She found herself wishing this guy wasn't such an arrogant lowlife so she could ask him about her father. He seemed to know about him.

Ah, what the hell? She scowled darkly at him, "What do you know about my father?"

The demon glared at her. "I know that he's a fool."

Her anger surged again but she kept it under control. "I'll ask you one more time, _what do you know about my father?_"

"I don't want to talk about him!" whined the man. "I want to know why you keep telling me no!"

He grinned seductively. "It would just be one night and I promise you would enjoy it."

Okay, this was starting to piss her off – no, it had passed the starting point, she was seriously pissed – and she was seriously thinking of just charging and slicing this bastard's head off.

"C'mon," he crooned, stretching out his hand.

She attacked, vertically slashing at his hand, three quick strokes in a Z formation to his throat, chest and abdomen, and four strikes at his legs, all while bolting past him.

The demon jerked back from her attacks with inhuman speed, though not fast enough to escape deep slashes – unfortunately, none of them life threatening.

"You bitch!" he screeched, losing his head completely at the sight of the blood seeping through his shirt.

She fought back a smirk. He always lost his cool when something didn't go his way and once he was in the middle of one of his rages, he was an easy opponent.

He lunged at her, and earned a cut to the face that had actually been directed at his jugular.

With a lightening quick flick, she had the fool on his back and her katana going for his throat –

"That will do!"

She stopped, but not before giving her opponent a sharp strike across the throat with the blunt end of her sword to keep him out of her hair for a moment.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a girl – her age perhaps – standing a few feet away. An odd sense of familiarity came over her and she found herself looking over the girl carefully.

The girl had long dark red hair and sapphire blue eyes that gleamed in the dark of twilight. Her face was gorgeous, with her large eyes, slender cheekbones, dainty nose, and full mouth. She wore a green Chinese style blouse with red roses embroidered climbing up her right side and neat black pants and soft black shoes. "Shura, what have you done now?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

She looked between the redhead and the man at her feet in confusion. Shura? Was that this guy? Or was it her? And wasn't Shura a boy's name?

The newcomer sighed deeply. "What did you do to him, Niira?"

This was getting seriously annoying. "Who is Niira?"

The girl sighed again. "Please don't be like that, Niira. Koenma wants to know what's taking you so long, you were supposed to be in Spirit World yesterday afternoon."

The beginnings of a headache were beginning to creep up. "What the hell are you talking about? I don't know a Koenma, I don't know who Niira is, and I don't have a friggin' clue who you or that idiot is!"

The redhead girl's eyes went big. Really big.

"Do you…" the girl began cautiously. "Do you know who I am?"

She shot a quick look at the man at her feet before turning back to the girl and answering, "No."

The girl winced. "Do you know who you are?"

"Why is that any of your concern?"

"Do you know who your father is?"

She looked hard at the redhead. She couldn't sense anyone else around her, but then, she hadn't sensed this girl approaching either. Her sixth sense was switching between an angry humming at the sight of the man and a calm silence at the sight of the girl.

She debated between leaving this girl and the jackass and searching for answers on her own or asking this familiar girl.

She wrestled with herself before growling, giving the man a sharp, though rather immature, kick to the ribs, and stepping back, keeping her sword at the ready. "Tell me."

The redhead bowed politely. "My name is Hanako Minamino. My father is Yoko Kurama. My father knows your father and through that, I know you."

She cocked her head. "And?"

"And I have known you for a very long time. Your name is Niira."

"Niira?" she spoke the word aloud, testing the way it felt on her tongue. The name struck a chord in her, stronger than those the names Hanako and Kurama had.

"Yes, your father took the name from the word 'niiro'. It means red. My name comes from 'hana' which means flower. My full name means 'flower child'."

She nodded, keeping one eye on the grounded man in front of her and another on the girl. "And my father?"

"Your father is the demon swordsman -"

Her sixth sense went off like an alarm bell. "Someone's here."

The redhead broke off. "Are you sure?"

She shot the girl a disdainful look.

"Of course, you are," the girl answered herself, raising a slender hand to the back of her neck.

Less than a second later, two dozen demons came hunkering out of the night shadows to surround them.

She immediately turned to her sixth sense. Was this girl Hanako allied with these idiots?

Thankfully – apparently this girl was an ally and a fierce warrior – her sense hummed calmly and informed her, _Hanako is a trusted friend. Watch her back and she will return the favor._

This was odd, considering the voice in her head was generally cold and sarcastic, but the voice hadn't let her down yet so she decided to trust it. She didn't need any more uncertainties.

"I hope you can fight," she growled to Hanako.

The redhead laughed lightly. "You don't have to worry about that," she assured her, pulling a beautiful red rose out of hair.

She eyed the rose doubtfully but Hanako's smile didn't waver, though her sapphire eyes flashed a strange green. Had her sense told her to look after this girl because she happened to be insane?

Nope. Her sixth sense was thrumming with confidence. _Have faith in her. She won't let you down._

Okay… whatever.

She gripped her sword a little tighter and held it in a defensive position.

"You still remember how to use that, then?"

She looked from Hanako to her katana. "Apparently."

"That's very interesting."

"I would hardly call this interesting."

Hanako laughed.

Giving the strange redhead a derisive glare, she darted forward and began her mad dance of sword play. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a long green whiplike thing slash through the demons on her left side's bodies. Turning her head, she saw Hanako slashing the attacking with a long cordlike green thing with dangerous barbs spaced out at intervals.

It was a whip.

But hadn't she been holding a rose?

So the whip had come from the rose?

A rose whip –

_A man stood before her, lightly rotating his right hand, which grasped a bamboo stick._

_She stood, clutching a stick as well, holding it like a sword before her. She watched him patiently for the signal to begin._

_He gave none as he suddenly closed the distance between them and began a series of lightening fast slashes, jabs and sweeps. Though she managed to defend herself well on the whole, the first few attacks most certainly would have killed her if the weapons had been steel instead of bamboo. In any case, the sharp thwacks he gave whenever he hit her weren't exactly pleasant either. When the fighting was finally over, he stared down at her in a way that clearly said that though he wasn't overly disappointed in her performance, he wasn't entirely pleased with it either._

"_Your problem," he said at last. "Is that you're far too used to me telling you when the battle begins. And because of that you are dead."_

_She shifted unhappily. "I'm not completely dead!"_

_His eyebrows rose. "Really? Take off your shirt."_

_She grimaced but obeyed, pulling off her wine red tunic over her head. At eight, she was agonizingly skinny – scrawny, as Kuwabara the Elder insisted – with a completely flat chest that her father insisted she cover with a layer of bandages which hid the region where most grown women had breasts, and sticklike arms and legs. Despite what most people thought, her rail thinness wasn't due to insane punishments of starvation from her father – as if he would ever willingly try to seriously hurt her! – It was simply due to her body structure, crazy metabolism and her active and slightly dangerous lifestyle._

_Her lightly tanned skin glowed with a healthy light from her training and preference to outside activities versus inside ones. But her shoulders, arms, her belly and even parts of her neck were all beginning to turn the telltale black-blue of bruises. _

_Every single vital point had been hit once._

"_Now," he said, lazily rotating his wrist. "My first rush hit your carotid artery–" he gently tapped the right side of her neck with the stick "-and your cervical artery-" he tapped the skin just above her right collar bone "-and your dorsal scapular artery-" he dragged the stick across the base of her throat "- and your windpipe," he brushed the stick lightly on the appearing bruise on her throat. "Do you want me to continue?"_

_She glared at the dirt beneath her boots. He had listed three major arteries that if cut could leave her dead in a minute or less from blood loss and a wound that scared her more than anything else – the slashed windpipe meant a slow painful death of slowly suffocating._

"_No," she muttered at last._

"_Good. Now, the only way to remedy this is to heighten your sense of movement and presence. Doing this will allow to sense when an enemy is attacking you before you can guess whether he is an enemy or not."_

"_What about what you taught me about sensing presences?"_

"_This is an extension of that. A major extension."_

"_Are we interrupting something, Hiei?"_

_She jumped. _

_The man didn't. He merely looked annoyed. "What do you want?"_

"_Merely to inform you of a summons you have received from Human World," said a smooth quiet voice. "And apparently I managed to sneak up on Niira."_

_A flush crawled up her cheeks as she caught sight of the intruder. _

_No, intruders, there were two. _

_A man and a girl about her own age._

_She knew both of them. _

"_Kurama, Hanako," she said, nodding shortly to both of them._

"_Hello Niira!" smiled the girl, brushing her dark red hair out of her sapphire eyes. "Were you practicing?"_

_She shrugged, picking her tunic up off of the ground. "It looks like it."_

_The redhead girl giggled and walked over, taking the shirt away from her. With a few quick flicks of her wrists, she managed to snap out most of the wrinkles, before handing the tunic back._

_She made a quiet noise of thanks as she pulled the shirt over her bruised shoulders. "What are you doing here, Hana?"_

"_Father wanted me to see his homeland and my powers work best here."_

_The two walked a little ways away from their fathers and she found a fallen log to sit on and Hanako joined her. "That's right, your powers are weaker in Human World."_

_The redhead sighed deeply. "Yes… but this new technique Father taught can be used with equal force in any world!" Hanako shot a cheerful look at her father._

"_What is it?" she asked with interest. She had seen Kurama fight; it was an awing thing to see, but in a different way from her father's style. _

_Hanako's smile practically glowed and she got the feeling that this was the main reason Hanako had come – to show off her new technique. "May I, Father?"_

"_Of course," Kurama smiled. "Remember the special concentration to the thorns we practiced."_

"_I will!" _

_Hanako reached her hand to the back of her ear and, seemingly out of nowhere, she pulled out a dark red rose the exact color of her hair complete with green stem. With a look of concentration, she snapped the rose and cried out, "Rose whip!"_

_The rose exploded into a long vine with dangerous thorns poking out every few inches. Hanako flicked her wrist and sent the whip curving dangerously through the air with a thrumming noise._

_With a jerk of her arm, the redhead brought the weapon back to her and carefully brought it to wrap around her forearm. "How was that?"_

_She cocked her head and nodded in approval. "Pretty good."_

"_What about you?" Hanako wanted to know. "What have you learned?"_

_She considered her training and hit on one that wouldn't hurt to show in public. "Do you see that leaf on the tree growing on the twisted branch?"_

_Hanako turned and squinted hard at the indicated area. "The one with the black spot?"_

"_No, the one just behind it."_

"_Yes…"_

_Her throwing knife sliced through the leaves, somehow curving around the spotted leaf and cutting the specified leaf perfectly off at the stem._

"_That's incredible!" _

"_What news did your father bring anyway?"_

"_Oh, just that it since it's Ms. Yukina and Mr. Kazuma's tenth wedding anniversary, there's going to be a big party at Master Genkai's house."_

"_So?"_

"_Ms. Yukina especially invited you two."_

_She smirked. "He's not going to do it. He'll come but he won't do it."_

_Hanako smiled innocently. "Whatever do you mean?"_

_She rolled her eyes as she retrieved her knife. "You know exactly what I mean."_

"_Yes I do. But why won't your father tell her?"_

"_Why are you asking me?"_

"_You're his daughter."_

"_That doesn't mean I understand everything about the way he thinks!"_

_Hanako pouted slightly before brightening again. "Mr. Yusuke is bringing his family. And Ms. Shizuru is coming too!"_

"_Is that weird ferry woman coming?"_

"_Miss Botan? I think so. You really should give her a chance –"_

"_Alright, goddamn it!"_

_Both girls turned to see Hanako's father smiling with triumph at a very sullen looking Hiei._

Hiei.

Her father.

**What happened to the battle? Read the next chapter to find out! So all of you who asked me if Hanako was Jin's kid, do you get it NOW?! Please REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The first thing she was aware of was her pounding headache. It seemed to be squeezing and releasing her skull in time with her heartbeat.

Damn… this sucked.

On the bright side she remembered her father.

She remembered her father. Hiei.

She even remembered her own name. Niira.

Unfortunately, that and the fact that she and her father had known several people from different worlds, was the only thing she had learned.

This felt like waking up in the midst of those demons when she had first woken up, except –

THE DEMONS!

She leapt to her feet and immediately was hit by a surge of dizziness.

Fighting back the wooziness, she desperately looked over her surroundings. She was not in the forest. She wasn't even outside.

She was in a small traditional Japanese room on bed mat with the blanket that had been covering her bunched up at her feet. Across the room was a closed sliding door and there was a table less than three feet away with her sword and sheath, the strap that held them both to her back, her boots, and her jacket neatly laid out on it.

What the – What had happened?

Hadn't she just been fighting those demons? Where had Hanako and that idiot gone?

And where in the nine hells was she?

She tuned into her sixth sense and was flabbergasted at its message: _Relax, little fool, you're safe._

Safe? _Safe?!_

What the hell kind of crap was that? She was…she was…in different clothes?

She was dressed in one a white shift with her arms bandaged. She raised her fingers to her cheek and was shocked when she could not feel the terrible cut that had been carved through it. There was not even a trace of a scar beneath her fingers. With great hesitance, she ran her hands through her hair and felt clean, soft waves and no blood.

Had all of that been a dream? She wondered as she rubbed her palms roughly across her scalp.

Ouch!

The head injury – albeit, much smaller than it had been.

It had healed then?

How long had she been asleep?

Her attention was once again diverted to the bandages around both her arms. Both of her arms ached and running her hands up and down the opposite arms sparked sharp pain.

What the hell had happened?

Was this from the fight?

How had it ended? They had to have won or at least escaped because she was still alive.

Where was Hanako then?

Her sixth sense lazily interrupted her thoughts with a: _Two people are coming. _

She immediately went for her sword but was brought to a screeching halt with the sense's sharp admonition, _You little fool, neither of them are enemies so put your sword down!_

She scowled. Fine, she wouldn't draw her sword. Instead, she sat on the mat she had slept on with her legs folded beneath her and waited.

Within seconds, the door opposite her slid open to reveal two women.

One was human – though she couldn't say how she knew this – and apparently very, very old. She was painfully bent over and wielded a can in one hand. She wore a red and yellow tunic, with a blue sash, and white trousers. Her hair was almost completely white except for a trace of pink; her face was lined so liberally she looked like a road map. Despite her aging appearance, her brown eyes were still bright and sharp. She did not look like a person to mess with.

The other was another matter altogether.

This woman was a demon with long sea-green hair held up in an intricate braid. Her large eyes were…were…exactly like her own. Dark crimson red and surrounded by long thick black lashes. The woman looked young, only about in her mid twenties, but she knew that the woman was much older than that. She wore a neat white blouse, a light blue skirt and a kind smile.

The feeling of familiarity arose in her so fast she thought she had been punched in the chest.

"Niira?" asked the demon woman, kneeling in front of her. "Do you know who I am?"

She cocked her head and tried to remember.

Nothing.

"No," she said, shaking her head. Then, prompted by a gentle feeling she didn't understand, she added, "I'm sorry."

The woman smiled sadly.

"What about me?" the old woman butted in. "Do I seem familiar?"

"No," she said rather suspiciously, but with prodding from her sixth sense, "Both of you seem familiar but I don't know who you are."

The two woman traded glances.

"What do you remember?" the human asked.

Her temper flared. "It hardly seems fair that you know my name and don't know yours. Until you introduce yourself, I say that that is none of your business."

The old woman smirked. "You're exactly like your father. Very well, my name is Genkai. I am a psychic and the master of this temple."

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"You did."

"And you?" she asked, again with the gentleness she did not understand.

"My name is Yukina. I am an ice apparition and a friend of your father. I am a healer. I have known you since you were an infant."

She looked the woman over rather doubtfully. "Really."

She immediately regretted the word as the woman's eyes welled up in tears and a single drop fell from her eyes and hit the ground with a strange clink.

She reached forward and picked up the shining thing. It was a jewel.

The most beautiful she had ever seen. Perfectly round and cool and –

"_What are you doing up there, Niira? Your father will not be back until the day after tomorrow."_

_She looked down from her perch in the tree. Her aunt – not that she had ever told the woman of their relationship out of deference to her father – stood at the base of the tree looking up. "He's usually back earlier than what he says."_

_Her aunt smiled. "That's true. But I don't think he would like it if you sat up there for a full day waiting for him. Why don't you come down from there and have some ice cream with me."_

_She considered this for a moment. She really liked this tree; it had good branches and she could see for miles in any direction. _

_She also really liked ice cream. She had liked it ever since she first tasted it._

"_Alright," she gave in, leaping gracefully from the thirty foot high branch and landing lightly on her feet._

_Yukina smiled. "Shall we go then?"_

_The two walked into Genkai's temple and headed towards the kitchen. _

_In no time, she was happily sticking a spoon full of Fudge Swirl ice cream into her mouth. While her father ate ice cream as though he had just returned from a fifty year famine, she preferred to eat her ice cream slowly, sucking and savoring every drop._

_As she continued licking at her spoon, she turned her attention to her aunt who was fingering a round jewel hanging around her neck._

_It was exactly like her father's, small, round, a soft golden color and it seemed to radiate calmness and safety._

"_It's an heirloom from my mother," Yukina suddenly said, apparently having noticed her staring. "I had given it to your father so he could search for my brother… but he couldn't find him. He insisted on giving it back on my wedding day. He said I shouldn't be keeping myself attached to a man that was probably already dead when I was about to pledge myself to Kazuma."_

_The apparition sighed deeply. "He was right, of course. He usually is. I always did wonder if my brother was like him."_

_She immediately ducked her head a bit and pretended to scrape some more ice cream out of the bowl. "Really?"_

"_Oh, yes. He was everything I wanted my brother to be… Strong, honorable, kind, intelligent… But it would simply have been too good to be true. But he did consent to walking me down the aisle. It made me feel… well, anyway, I am very much indebted to your father and I am very fond of you as well."_

_She felt guilt rear up in her like a dragon. But her father's strict orders about her aunt kept her mouth closed._

"_It is very beautiful," she said, changing the subject._

"_Would you like one? Goodness knows, I have so many…"_

_She choked on her ice cream and needed her aunt to pound her on the back before she could breathe properly again. "What? No, no, that would be too much!"_

"_I will give you one when you get married. That seems reasonable… It'll be a special day… you'll need something to new to wear."_

_She wrinkled her nose. "I don't plan on getting married."_

_The woman laughed. "You're ten, life will seem much more different when you are older, Niira."_

"_Not for me."_

"_Don't be so sure, Niira-"_

"Niira! Niira, child, wake up!"

Huh? Wha-

She was curled up on her side, the hand that still clutched the tear gem cradled to her chest. The two women were kneeling around her, the demon channeling cool healing energy into her body.

It took most of her strength to sit up and push their hands away. Folding her legs beneath her, she held the jewel out to the demon. "I still have no intention of getting married."

Yukina looked from her to the stone, then back again.

"Do you remember?" the woman whispered.

"Just a short memory. Now take this."

Yukina smiled a bit and took the jewel. "Actually, you said that when you were ten. We changed it when you turned fifteen. You have to wear one of my gems on your first date."

"What? And have I-"

"Oh, no… you have yet to –"

"Alright, that's enough of that," the old woman, Genkai, interrupted. "Did that episode mean you just had a memory?"

She sat up straighter, "What episode?"

The old woman grimaced slightly. "You went rigid and fell over. You were shaking and clutching yourself."

She groaned silently. Just great, she had had some sort of breakdown in front of these women, even if this Yukina was her aunt.

"Why am I bandaged? Where are my clothes?" She asked, trying to get a handle on the conversation.

"We were hoping you could tell us," the old woman said wryly. "Hanako was a mess of burns and wounds when she came to us with you and she's in no shape to tell us anything."

"How long ago was that?"

"Three days," the old woman stated.

She sat in shock. Three days?

Three _days?_ _Three_ days?

Was that even possible?

_Apparently_, hissed the voice in her head.

"What was wrong with me? Were you the ones who bandaged me up?"

"So many questions," sighed the old woman. "In order, you had minor slash wounds on your legs, arms, and torso, with a nasty one on your cheek. There was a serious gash on your head – you just missed having a fractured skull – your ankle was in pieces and your back looked like someone took a bullwhip to it. Then there were your arms… well, I haven't seen burns like those since the Dragon of the Darkness flame. Did you make some sort of attack that involved flames?"

She blinked at the old woman. "I don't have a clue what the hell you're babbling about."

"Did you do some sort of fire attack?"

"A fire attack?"

It was the old woman's turn to blink. "You do remember that you're a fire apparition, don't you?"

"A fire apparition? As in I control fire?"

"Yes. Anyway, Yukina here fixed you up as well as she could and you should be fine in another couple of days."

She began to stand up. "Alright, where are my clothes? I want to find out what's going on outside."

Yukina spoke, "Your clothes were nothing but ashes when Hanako brought you in. We have a few changes that you've left here for emergencies –"

"That's fine," she assured her hastily. She didn't want to spend another second longer in the flimsy white gown.

"Well, follow me then."

She walked along behind the old woman and Yukina, with her belongings under her arm and her feet strong and sure beneath her. They walked from the room into the bright light of day. Apparently the temple was situated mostly outside; the rooms – the many rooms – were connected by small, open courtyards and halls that ran on the outside of the buildings, shielded from weather extremities by flimsy looking roofs.

Suddenly, she felt a hint of…something…brush past her cheek, drawing her gaze. It was like a breeze, but softer, and it had color, like a ribbon. It was a soft blue, rimmed with bright yellow and a deep rich crimson. Intrigued, she turned to find the source of this odd occurrence – her sixth sense having indicated that this wasn't a hostile thing – and found herself staring into the eyes of an enormous blue bird with a black crest running from the top of his skull down the ridge of his spine to his wing joints.

Her hand snapped to the hilt of the sword only to be stopped by the old woman's surprisingly strong wrinkled hand.

"Relax, that's just Puu."

"Puu?" she repeated, eyeing the huge bird warily.

It was easily four times bigger than herself, and those talons and beak didn't look like they were all for show.

"That is the Spirit Beast of a friend of mine. He is a very intelligent creature."

The bird arched its graceful neck like a swan and lowered its head so they were eye to eye. For a solid moment it felt as though it were peering into her very soul. Then, all at once, it butted playfully into her chest and chirped happily.

It was from this creature that the light ribbon was coming from. Cautiously, she reached out a hand and touched the creature's head. It let out a deep, rich rumble not unlike a purr and rubbed its head happily against her hand.

Her sixth sense lazily spoke up, _Someone else is here._

"He still likes you, no accounting for taste though."

She turned to see a young man standing a little ways away from her and the giant bird. Soft light was swirling around him, too. These were navy blue and gold lights that flicked around his body like flames. The person himself was a tall young man with jet black hair, penetrating brown eyes and cocky grin.

A sudden vision of a smaller version of this boy flashed across her memory – he was feeding the huge blue bird bits of bread from his hand – sending her staggering slightly.

The bird now had its neck firmly braced against her breast bone, keeping her upright. Yukina and the old woman had stepped forward to take her arms.

"Was it another memory?" Yukina asked breathlessly.

"Can I have my clothes now?" she asked, turning away from the bird and the boy. "Please?"

"Niira?" the boy asked from behind her. "Are you okay?"

She ignored him. "I'd like my clothes now."

"They're right in here," the old woman said, opening a door a little ways down the hall.

She ducked inside and firmly shut the door.

And collapsed as a surge of memories hit her hard.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The pain in her head was intense – beyond anything she had ever imagined.

No. No that wasn't quite true…

_She stood before a huge bonfire, stripped down to her pants and bandages that now bound her neat breasts to her chest. Around her was a ritual circle and outside that was her father, watching silently. _

_This was it… She took a deep breath, centering her power and stepped into the fire. The tongues of flame licked her skin lovingly and roared even higher. She breathed in the smoke, and exhaled. Focusing on the movement of the flames, she pictured them forming the shapes of dragons in her mind…_

_And then the dragon was there and it was breathing flames on her. _

_Silver flames._

_It felt so good._

_And so painful._

OWOWOWOW!

Her head felt like a giant was squeezing it tighter and tighter.

_She was wandering down the path of Genkai's temple when she saw a young boy with black hair and brown eyes standing in an open courtyard, feeding a giant bird from his hand._

_She stopped to watch him as he offered another chunk of bread to the great beast._

"_Hey Niira!" he called, catching sight of her. "Want to feed Puu?" _

_She walked over to him. "Why in the world are you feeding that thing? It can get food for itself."_

"_So can you," he retorted. "But Grandma feeds you anyway."_

"_It's not the same thing."_

"_The hell it isn't!"_

"_Be careful, Raizen," she said coolly. "Your mother might be around."_

_Raizen – or Rai as he liked to be called – went slightly pale and quickly looked around the courtyard. At last, he rolled his eyes and offered a chunk of bread to her. "Look, do you want to help me feed him or not?"_

_With a soft snarl, she stalked over and joined him in front of the Spirit Beast._

"_Okay," he said in a businesslike way. "The way to do this is first you have to let Puu decide if he likes you or not. Just offer your hand and see what happens._

"_Oh," he added as an afterthought. "Be ready just in case he tries to bite."_

_So, keeping a careful eye on the bird's sharp beak, she offered it her hand, palm up._

_It turned its attention to her for a few minutes, shifting its head from side to side. Its great black eyes bored into her red ones, and it felt as though the creature was seeing the innermost parts of her soul. It felt extremely strange, but not entirely unpleasant._

_Finally, the bird arched its neck and slowly began to nudge her hand, like a kitten seeking attention._

_She gave it a cautious rub, then sped up the tempo of her caresses until she could feel the creature vibrating with the strength of its own purr. "What did you say its name was?"_

"_His name is Puu. He's my dad's. Or, he is my dad. Kinda. It's hard to explain."_

"_Puu," she repeated, moving her stroking down to its long, graceful neck. "That's a strange name."_

_As though it understood her, the bird lightly nipped her arm but not hard enough to draw blood or even really to hurt._

"_Wow," Rai said beside her, "That's weird. Puu really likes you."_

"_What do you mean?" she asked as the bird suddenly shoved its head down onto her chest and nuzzled her enthusiastically. Never in all her seven years had she ever encountered a creature so friendly._

"_Well, he does usually like most people, but not this much."_

"_Why does he like me so much?" _

_Puu cooed happily and started trying to get into her pockets._

"_Not a clue. It must be your insane good looks," he quipped lightly, handing her a piece of bread. "Here, he wants you to feed him."_

_So she did. And he daintily took it from her hand and swallowed._

_As he rubbed against her cheek, she smiled a bit and gave him a vigorous rub up and down his neck._

"_That's perfect," Rai said. "He loves being pet like that –"_

The pain was increasing by leaps and bounds.

She was on her knees clutching her head. It felt like her skull was going to explode.

_She clutched her swollen ankle and tried to ignore the sharp pains streaking up through her body._

_Her father knelt before her, a long strip of cloth slung over one shoulder. "Let's see it. Take off your shoe."_

_She began brusquely tugging it off, biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from whimpering. Her father's hand stopped her._

"_If you do it like that you could cripple yourself even worse." He brushed aside her hands and gently eased the boot off. _

_Her ankle looked like a swollen demon snake after a meal. It had turned a magnificent black and blue and it only slightly resembled what had once been her foot. _

"_Now the way to do this is to wrap a strip of cloth – preferably a clean, cool one – around the swelling and wrap it tightly. It keeps the swelling down and makes it heal faster." _

_As he spoke, he placed her foot in his lap and carefully felt her ankle, prodding and running his fingers along her bones. It hurt, but she could tell he was trying to be careful. "No broken bones or torn muscles._

"_Now watch carefully." He began to wrap her ankle. His touch was unusually gentle as he pulled the bandage tight around her ankle in a dizzying pattern._

_She bit her lip. _

_She was not going to cry. _

_She was five. _

_A big girl._

_Five year old big girls didn't cry._

_She was not going to whimper either. _

_Big girls didn't whimper._

_She focused on the trees around her. It was early summer and the trees looked very pretty with their fresh green leaves. Even though she liked watching the snow fall from the sky and how it covered everything like a blanket, she preferred the bright leaves of summer. It was almost time for their visit to Genkai's temple. She always liked going there and watching to see what would happen –_

_A brisk slap to her knee brought her back to herself. _

"_It's done," her father said, standing up. "Try and walk."_

_She slid down from the fallen tree trunk she had used as a bench and carefully put her weight on her injured foot. A jolt of agony sent her reeling into her father as her leg refused to support her. "I don't think I can."_

_He firmly pushed her away and took a few steps back. "Walk to me. Don't limp."_

_She grimaced. "I'll try."_

"_Don't try. Just do it."_

_She stood tall and carefully placed her injured foot on the ground. Putting all of her weight on it, she bit back a sob of pain as she stepped forward. She nearly fell over as she tried to quickly step with her other foot. She winced. _

_That had definitely been a limp._

_Stopping on her uninjured leg, she took a moment to get herself back under control before stepping forward on her bad leg. Instantly, her legs buckled and she fell into her father's chest. She looked up._

_He eyed her thoughtfully. "It's a start."_

All of her training to ignore physical pain was stretched to the limit. She found herself wishing that she could pass out to escape the pain…

_It was warm._

_And wet._

_And wonderful._

_She didn't know where she was._

_She had always been here._

_In the wetness._

_In the warmth._

_In the safeness._

_And for the first time in the eternity that she had been here, something moved._

_Oh, there had always been movement._

_But it had only been pulsing._

_A beat that had been around her._

_And within her._

_Now that pulsing had become irregular._

_It was pushing at her._

_Forcing her to move around._

_She was moving._

_The pushing was forcing her down._

_And it was uncomfortable._

_She had never been uncomfortable before._

_She didn't like it._

_Suddenly this warmth and wet was no longer comforting._

_She wanted out._

_A long time later, or perhaps no time at all, she found herself in a tight spot._

_She wanted out._

_She wanted out._

_She wanted out._

_She wanted –_

_She was out._

_It was bright._

_And cold._

_And full of OTHERS._

_There was one OTHER._

_And another OTHER._

_In hindsight, it really wasn't that many at all, but for a newborn baby, it was quite a lot indeed._

_She had always been by herself with nothing but that pulse._

_One of the OTHERS was holding her with arms that were much, much bigger than her own. It felt good. Safe. _

_Like when she had been in the warmth and wet._

_But better._

_This OTHER had a feeling of something that was warmer than the warmth from before. Something that made her feel fuzzy and safe. _

_It made her feel loved._

_Love?_

_She didn't know what that meant._

_But she knew that was what the arms holding her symbolized._

_Suddenly she was not in the LOVE OTHER's arms._

_She was in the other OTHER's arms._

_After a moment of wild discomfort and fear – which she also decided that she didn't like – she realized that this OTHER had another feeling about it._

_A feeling of warmth and safety._

_A feeling of security._

_She was safe as long as this OTHER was around._

_This OTHER was strong._

_The LOVE OTHER and the SECURITY OTHER were making noises to each other and to her._

_She didn't understand what was happening but all at once the SECURITY OTHER was gone – no not gone, he was still nearby – and the LOVE OTHER was cradling her. LOVE OTHER was making sweet noises that made her sleepy._

_She liked them both._

_She liked them very much._

_She wondered if this was love._

The pain stopped.

She was on all fours on the ground, her arms around her head resting on the ground. She had a massive headache that threatened to throw her into unconsciousness.

Holding her consciousness in both hands, she managed to sit up and look around the room. A short distance away a low table held two neat piles of clothes – one consisting of black trousers and a white shirt, and black trousers and a red shirt.

She reached for the one with the red shirt – It felt more familiar – and experienced a harsh bout of nausea. Ignoring that, and the jackhammers in her head, she stood up shakily and firmly strode over to them. She sat carefully on the floor in front of the table, and began laying out the items that made up the pile.

They weren't that different than the clothes she had been wearing before: loose black pants, a thick black belt, a strange thing that looked like a human's bathing suit top, a roll of cloth bandages, a change of underwear, and a strange black clip thing.

She threw a cautious look around the room to ensure there were no spots were someone could watch her getting undressed. When the room passed her test, she carefully pulled the white gown over her head, ignoring the pain in her arms, and grabbed the shirt.

But no… that wasn't right. There was supposed to be something under this…

Ah! The bandages, of course.

She picked them up…

No… something went under that.

She cautiously tried to remember what went –

Of course, a bra! How could she forget?

As if her father hadn't been uncomfortable enough having to sit through an hour's worth of advice about how to help her choose her first one. She could remember his face as they stood in the women's section of a department store with Shizuru who had walked them through the process.

Wait. A. Freakin'. Minute.

She remembered.

What else?!

She remembered her father hadn't wanted to step foot into the intimates racks and she had had to take his arm and pull him inside. He also hadn't been happy with the Human World clothing he had been forced into. Or the fact that they had interfered in his parenting methods to insist that he buy his daughter a suitable means of breast support.

She remembered being stuck in a dressing room for forty-five minutes trying on sports bras with her father and Shizuru crammed inside the rooms with her. She remembered trying on at least two dozen bras with Shizuru criticizing every single one and her father hovering in the background looking extremely uncomfortable.

She remembered walking out that accursed place with six sports bras and three dress bras. Shizuru had been pleased with the venture, but she and her father had made a joint vow to never enter that place again.

As it happened they went back several months later to get…

Her memory puttered out there.

It's a start, she thought bracingly. That's definitely a start.

**Sorry, but I just HAD to put that last bit in! Can you imagine Hiei shopping for bras?! That's as bad as Vegeta going to the mall!**

**If you review that would be awesome!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you sooo much for your reviews! Love you all!**

Chapter 7

As she tied up the bandages, and began pulling on the red shirt – which she happened to like better than the one she had been wearing earlier – she realized something.

She had memories of her father, fragmented ones sure but she had them, but she didn't know what he looked like.

Her hands hesitated in their task of pulling up her pants while she tried to remember what he looked like. On second thought, she amended, pulling up her pants and cinching them tightly with the belt. She wanted to be completely dressed for another episode; there was no way in hell that they were going to find her twitching on the floor half dressed.

Now pulling on her shoes, she gave herself completely over to trying to remember what her father looked like. She knew that he was short and rather cold, but at the same time he had cared for her, looked after her, trained her –

_She wandered around, staring up at the giant trees that reached gracefully towards the twilit sky. The stars looked like those rocks that humans liked to wear on their fingers, throats and hands. She would have to remember to ask her father what those were called. The shadows of the trees threw the ground into mysterious patterns and gave her no fear at all. _

_Her father had told her she was not to leave the clearing until he came to get her so she had been amusing herself with climbing trees and leaping out of them, searching for birds' nests – which could be a dangerous pastime because quite often the bird and its offspring were bigger than the searcher – and practicing with her sword._

_She was very proud of that sword. When she had turned four her father had given it to her as her very own. Oh he had been teaching her how to use one but she had never had one of her very own. It came with growing up, he had told her._

_She was also very proud that her father had trusted her to stay all by herself in the forest at night. _

_Aunt Yukina told her that when fathers allowed their children to do grownup things that meant they were becoming big girls and boys._

_She was just leaping from the ground to a branch about fifteen feet above the ground, when she sensed something._

_Immediately she grabbed the branch she had leapt to and snuck into the shadows, pulling at her black jacket so it would hide her pale skin. Her father had stressed how important it was for her to stay away from those she didn't know until she knew everything about fighting them._

_So she hid and waited. _

_A minute passed, but she didn't move. The first lessons her father had taught her had been patience, silence, and speed and she had learnt them well._

_Finally, after five minutes, she saw them._

_Ten hulking, top heavy demons with clubs and one slender one holding a scimitar with an air that clearly said he knew how to use it. _

_The scimitar one swept his arm around the clearing. "She's here somewhere. Find her."_

_Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, OH SHIT!_

_Technically she wasn't supposed to say those words. Her father had told her that she couldn't curse like a sailor until she had some sort of chest. What chests had to do with being a grownup who could curse was a mystery. Her father had a chest like her own and he cursed all the time. Whenever she pressed him about this, all he would only say that she was different from him because she was a girl. She didn't understand that at all._

_But he had never said she couldn't curse silently._

_Were these people looking for her?_

"_But Boss," grunted one of the huge ones. "How d'ya know the brat's even here?"_

"_I know because I am the leader and you all are the followers. Her father came here with her and left without her. Therefore she is still here."_

_The demons laughed stupidly. "That's real smart, Boss!"_

_That was a definite yes._

_She plastered herself to the bark of the tree and ran through her options. She could hide and hope they didn't find her, she could try and sneak away, or she could fight._

_Option 1: Hiding went against her upbringing. Her father had been teaching her to defend herself ever since she could walk. Though he had taught her all there was to know on running and hiding – though her legs were still a tad too short and immature to reach her father's speed – the running had been to develop her speed and grace, and the hiding had been to teach her stealth. In actuality she had never really had to hide from anyone, unless you counted those silly games of hide and seek (which she secretly loved) she had played in the Human World; her father had always been with her or had shown up just as attackers did. She didn't want to hide from these oafs._

_Option 2: Well this went hand in hand with Option 2! She was not going to not away like some little girl! She was going to stand here and wait like her father had told her. If that meant she had to fight to stay here, then so be it._

_Option 3: Well, there was the glaring fact that there were eleven of them and only one of her. She was learning to take out numerous opponents at once, but she was only up to taking out three at once. _

_Wait, her father had told her what to do._

_When she was three, old enough to understand rules and their consequences, he had given her The Rules: Don't go between worlds without my permission, don't touch other peoples' swords or weapons, don't talk to strangers unless absolutely necessary, and so on and so forth. Then there had been the BIG rules: Do not, under any circumstances, tell Yukina who we are. You are not to tell her I am her brother nor are you to tell her you are her niece. You are not to tell anyone else (this really had no point as everyone except her aunt, her – shudder – Uncle Kazuma and her cousins knew)... If ever you are by yourself and you find yourself outnumbered, you are to spread your energy signature out and up. Make it big and bright. I will see it and wherever I am I will come._

_She nearly smacked herself on the forehead. How many times had he told her that? About a hundred? A million?_

_No matter._

_She concentrated and sent a fair sized bit of power into the air and tried to find her father's telltale energy signature. Every since she had been small, she had seen energy as stream of colored ribbons softly flowing around a person. She saw her father's energy as red, black, and silver ribbons that licked around his body like flames. _

_Where was he… There!_

_About thirty miles away… _

Father! There's trouble –

_Her senses jolted her from her communication and she drew her sword just in time to stab an oncoming demon in the chest. _

"_Hey, Boss!" yelled one demon, completely unconcerned about the death of his companion. "I found 'er!"_

_She moved swiftly, leaping up higher into the branches of the tree. But suddenly the lead demon was sitting on the branch she was aiming for._

_It took all her training to stop herself, twist, and land on another branch. _

_Just in time to duck a swipe from the same skinny demon's sword._

_But not fast enough to avoid his boot in her ribs._

_She crashed to the ground and managed to cut open the throat of another demon as he dove down on her, before rolling out of the way of another attack and scrambling back into the undergrowth. _

_The big guys' energy was black and stagnant, moving like sludge. She knew from experience that demons with that type of energy were easier to take down and posed no threat at all to warriors like her father._

_Speaking of which, where was he?_

_The slender demon was the one she was concerned about. His power snapped around him in murky brown streaks like lightening. That was the sign of a stronger demon with a bad attitude. _

Speak of the devil_, she thought dully as the slender demon suddenly appeared in front of her, snatching her wrist in a light but firm grip._

"_Looks like I've found the mouse, gentlemen –"_

_Suddenly, there was a flash of yelling and the demon turned his head._

_Right as a sword whipped toward it._

_He growled and ducked beneath it, at the same time hauling her in front of him as a living shield, ignoring her struggling. _

_With a strength not her own, her wrist was wrenched out of the demon's grip._

_She didn't need to turn around as the mental picture of black, red, and silver energy flickered in her mind's eye._

"_Attacking this girl is the last mistake you will ever make," her father stated coldly, pushing her behind him._

"_Give me the girl, Jaganashi," hissed the demon. _

"_Come get her."_

_There was a moment of silence in which the two sized each other up before charging. The skinny demon was dead before he hit the ground._

_Her father looked down at the mutilated corpse in disgust before turning to her. "I thought I told you to stay out of trouble."_

"_I did. Trouble came looking for me."_

_His crimson eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you leave when they came?"_

"_You told me not to leave the clearing under any circ-circum-cir-cum-stan-ces!" she snapped, secretly pleased at her victorious use of a long grown-up word._

_He glared. "We need to have a talk about when to break rules. Come."_

_She perked up. "I can break rules?!"_

"_Don't get too excited," he told her amused. "You can't break all the rules. And there is still the matter of you being cornered. We will discuss a significant increase in your training later."_

_She sighed and trotted after him and –_

"Niira? Niira!"

She found herself flat on her back staring up into three faces:

One was Hanako, her blue eyes wide with concern, her red hair in disarray and several fresh bandages on her cheeks. The other was the boy Raizen, the one from her memories, who crouched beside her nervously. The other was…was…_Kurama_, whispered a thought, bringing with it a feeling of being stabbed in the brain.

It was him though; she recognized – _recognized_ – his long red hair and gentle, intelligent dark green eyes.

"Are you alright?" Kurama asked, kindly. "Should I get Yukina?"

"I'm okay," she said, panting a bit from the pain as she sat up.

Hanako smiled at her. "You hair turned a bit more."

She stared at her. "What?"

Raizen smirked a bit. "You really don't remember? Well, when you were a brat – which you still are by the way – you had black hair. When you turned ten your hair started to turn silver. Now it's almost completely silver."

She blinked at him. "Huh?"

"It's not really that important," Kurama said quickly. "Your father will be here tomorrow."

"My father?"

"Yes, you do remember your father, don't you?"

"I remember I have one. His name is Hiei, he's a warrior, and… and… he has red eyes. Like mine."

"That's very good," he praised. "Do you remember who we are?"

She sighed and pointed to each in turn. "Hanako, I've known you since I was young. Kurama, you're a friend of my father's. And you, you're Raizen. You showed me how to feed Puu."

"That's right –"

"Hanako," she said flatly. "Don't treat me like a child. I'm amnesiac, not helpless."

Hanako blinked, then broke into an apologetic grin. "I'm sorry. Do you remember what happened to you when we were fighting those demons?"

"No."

"Well, it seems that you've mastered the Silver Flames."

"What silver flames?"

"It's a special technique that calls upon the flames of the sky dragons. It's almost as dangerous as the hellfire your father uses," Kurama explained.

"Hellfire?"

"Yes, when he fights, he can call on dragons that live in the bowels of hell and use their flames."

"That aside," Raizen interrupted. "Do you want this back?"

He held up her remaining shoe.

She forced down a flush of embarrassment as she snatched the boot away and shoved it onto her foot.

"What did you remember?" Hanako asked quietly.

"Just something that happened a long time ago. Now tell me what happened with those demons."

Hanako looked down at her hands. "You started… smoking… and your eyes went… strange. The next thing I knew you were fighting them and winning.

"Then you were really on fire and when I tried to grab you, you just threw me off and finished them off. Then you collapsed and then it was over."

"How do you mean strange, love?" her father pressed.

"Instead of just red irises and black pupils, there was this silver swirling around. It looked like you were possessed or hypnotized."

She finished lacing up her boots and frowned deeply in thought. None of that made any sense to her…

Wait.

"During one of my… episodes… I remembered standing in a fire that turned silver and there was this dragon that was breathing silver fire on me and it made me feel different."

"Different how?" Hanako asked.

"More powerful. Wilder. Something like that."

"Was it like this?" Raizen asked, suddenly reaching out his hand.

She jerked her arm away instinctively and was treated to an immediate scolding courtesy of her sixth sense.

_Little fool, he's not going to hurt you! Now hold still!_

"C'mon, Nii, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to check something."

For some reason, him calling her Nii didn't make her angry like when that idiot in the forest had called her it.

"Why are you calling me Nii?"

"What do you mean? I've always called you Nii."

She eyed him suspiciously. Was he lying?

No. He wasn't.

She could somehow tell.

"Whatever," she groused, holding out her arm.

The moment he closed his fingers around her arm she felt… wild, powerful, euphoric…

It was as though his hand was giving off a sort of heat that made her power flex insanely. The burn seemed also to trigger a strange sort of clenching in her stomach.

Then his grip was gone and she gasped for air like a woman just rescued from drowning, feeling rather… empty.

"Whoa," Raizen gasped. "That was intense."

"Yes, yes it was. And-" pant "-yes, it did feel-" pant "-like that."

"So what does this mean?" Hanako asked.

"It means that Niira's power is somehow tied up with that of the Silver Dragon. It's part of you," Kurama explained.

"It's a part of me?" she echoed in disbelief.

"Yes, you have gained great power since the last time I saw you."

"Yipee," she deadpanned. "Lots of power and I don't know a thing about it.

"Raizen," she turned her attention to him. "What did you do?"

"Don't call me Raizen! Rai. Call me Rai. Anyways, see my ancestor way back when was this really powerful demon who sealed his power in his descendants so that his demonic energy would only come out when someone strong enough came along. So when my dad got strong enough, he was able to use that power. I can use that power too 'cause it got passed down to me and I'm strong enough to use it. So I just stretched my ancient power to the power from the Silver Dragon and I guess the dragon's power's is as old and strong as my ancestor's 'cause they kinda clashed. Does that make sense?"

"So…" she gathered her thoughts and sorted out his explanation. "You used your power to draw out mine?"

"More or less."

"Hiei's not going to like this at all," Kurama muttered.

**SOOOO?! What do you think? Any ideas? And as always: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

She sat on the edge of the raised walkway, with her legs hanging and her head thrown up to stare up at the stars. The rest of the day had passed with relative uneventful-ness, aside from the arrival of a tall, loud, rather ugly young human male by the name of Daisuke Kuwabara. He had challenged her to a duel immediately after learning she had amnesia – apparently they had known each other before.

Hadn't one of her memories involved someone named Daisuke? She couldn't remember. _Big surprise there_, she thought sarcastically.

She had beaten him. Within seconds.

It had been very simple and boring.

He had howled like a child and slunk away to sulk.

Now…

Her sixth sense lazily flexed and whispered a soft warning just as a large feathered form came up behind her. She turned her head to see the Spirit Beast Puu arching his neck to look down at her. "Yes? What do you want?"

The bird gave a soft but ringing chirrup and settled itself down beside her, laying its head in her lap. After a few minutes of trying to shove the creature's head off, she finally gave up and went back to gazing at the silver stars.

They were beautiful…

So beautiful –

_There's another,_ hissed her instincts.

She turned her head sharply and saw only Raizen lazily striding towards her. Opting to ignore him, she went back to the stars.

He sat down beside her.

There was a long moment of companionable silence before either of them spoke.

"What's amnesia like?"

She blinked and looked at him. "What?"

He shrugged a bit, looking rather self-conscious. "What's it like to not remember your life?"

She thought a moment before answering. "It's not terrible. There are just gaps in my memory. Like holes, I suppose you could say."

"Doesn't it feel weird not to know what happened in your life?"

She shrugged. "I don't remember it. So how can I miss it?"

Raizen grinned. "That's true."

She smirked and they went back to their silence.

"So, do you just remember how to fight?" Raizen began again. "Or is it something you just know how to do?"

She considered how to answer this. Her sixth sense was humming contentedly in her chest – there was no warning there. But somewhere in her memory was the hesitation to reveal too much to anyone and she didn't know if she wanted to give to this person.

At last, "My body just moves. I was trained very well, apparently."

The boy laughed. "Are you kidding? Hiei had you doing laps before you could walk!"

She blinked at him. "What?"

"It's true. I remember you being barely a year old and already following him around while I was still trying to figure out walking. I am about a year older than you, you know."

"Really."

"Yeah, whenever I'd remind you you'd say, 'You'd never know by the way you act that I am the younger of us'. That always made me mad." He chuckled. "You always were – and still are – a pain."

She smirked a bit at that. "And you aren't?"

"Of course not!" he hissed, pressing his hand against his heart in mock indignation. "Me? A pain? Have you been drinking Grandma's scotch again?"

"What?"

"We got into Grandma's scotch cabinet once." Raizen tilted his head to one side. "I still don't remember what happened that night."

"I'd be shocked if you did," she said absently, catching sight of the North Star. "You downed six bottles of vodka."

"How many did you drink?"

She turned back to him; his voice had gone quiet and unobtrusive as though he was trying very hard not to get excited. "I lost count after the fourth."

"And then?"

"I told you –" she abruptly broke off with the sudden realization that she had been speaking as though she remembered her past. She tried to remember more and was immediately rewarded with a sharp jab of pain.

"Nothing else?" he asked, looking disappointed.

"No."

"That sucks."

"Tell me about it," she grumbled as Puu nuzzled her stomach fondly.

There was another long moment of silence.

Finally Raizen stood up. "Well, I gotta go. Gotta catch the crack of dawn train into town so I can get to school on time."

"Since when have you ever cared about school?"

"Since my mom found out about my C in chemistry." He shuddered. "That was a crappy week."

"I'll bet," she muttered. Raizen's mom was extremely dangerous for a –

OW!

Her head pounded in time with every breath and her hands were gripping Puu's feathers so tightly the poor creature was trembling beneath her.

"What's wrong, Nii?"

Hands descended on her shoulders and she tensed.

"Nothing," she gritted out. "Now get off me."

"Alright, alright." The hands left her shoulders. "You don't have to be so defensive. It wasn't like I was trying to cop a feel or anything."

She forced her hands to relax their grip on Puu's feathers and turned slightly to look at the young man. "You'd have been dead before you'd even gotten started."

Raizen grinned crookedly and she had the oddest quivery feeling in her stomach.

"I guess that's true. Night, Nii."

"Good bye."

"This isn't good bye, runt," he scolded teasingly. "It's 'see you later'."

"Very well, then," she sighed. "See you later, Rai."

He grinned and the feeling in her stomach intensified.

Then he was gone.

Puu cooed softly and wiggled his head a little beneath her hands. With a chuckle, she continued her stroking with one hand and placed the other on her stomach.

What had that been?

She sat there for a long time, going over every possible stomach ailment she knew of, trying to pin one down as the source.

When that failed, she tried and failed to shove Puu's head from her lap and just stood, earning an unhappy squawk and sharp bite. She ignored this and leapt up onto the roof. As she had assumed, her body immediately took control and she didn't even need to pause to catch her balance.

It took no effort at all to stride along the spine of the roof, one boot in front of the other – as easy as walking on dirt. The moon was a swollen white disk in the sky, creating stark shadows that were apparently no problem for her sharp demonic eyes.

She shifted her shoulders lazily; it felt rather odd not to have her katana strapped across her shoulders. Her aunt had seemed extremely uncomfortable with her carrying it around so she had decided to forego wearing it.

A strand of sterling silver hair fell gracefully into her face and she thoughtlessly brushed it aside. She hated to think what kind of cover she was getting. Her hair had to be shining like a sword under a spotlight. She turned to look up at the moon-

And felt something tug at her soul.

It was the oddest feeling.

Like when Rai had tried to pull her power out.

But not quite as powerful.

Her soul seemed to be… flexing?

No, that wasn't it.

Could a soul even flex-

She hit the roof just in time to avoid a sword sweep to her neck. From her haunches, she snapped out her leg to crack into the intruder's knee cap only to have him step back.

Why had she left the damn sword in the house? It hadn't been hurting anyone. Yukina could have gotten over it. It wasn't like the woman hadn't seen her father carry his sword a million times.

But it was no use complaining now. She had to get around this guy's defenses and take that sword from him. Which shouldn't be that difficult.

He was an incredible swordsman. Brilliant, in fact. But for some reason his moves were rather predictable.

His right shoulder was making the slightest dipping motion to the left – he was about to slash at her chest.

That light flex of his fingers on his sword hand meant a left downward diagonal strike.

It was all a matter of careful planning and accuracy.

3…2…1…

Her hand snapped out in time to grab his hand grasping the sword.

He tried to turn, jerk his hand and leap back at the same time but with a swift shifting of her feet, a twist of her upper body and step forward, her other hand rushing forward to catch his right hand that seemed to be smoking as it shot forward to deliver a punch to her stomach. Ignoring the sudden, rather uncomfortable, but not painful, heat, she managed to jerk the offending limb away from her body.

With both hands preoccupied, she did the only thing that seemed logical.

She slammed her forehead into his.

And was rewarded with a loud crack, a curse, and splitting headache.

And him dropping his sword.

She gripped it hard, took a quick step back and looked her opponent dead in the face as she rearranged her sword in her hand.

And froze.

Silver, black, and red energy swirled around her attacker like flames.

Dark, jewel bright red eyes glowed at her solemnly.

"Hiei? Father?"

**CURSE YOU MIDTERMS!!!!!!!! Don't worry loyal readers I'm not dead.**

**OKAY, SO SHORT, BROODY BUT ADORABLE HAS FINALLY SHOWED UP! REVIEWS ARE MUCH APPRECIATED!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The intruder straightened and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well," came a sarcastic voice. "At least you haven't forgotten your training."

It took all of her control to keep herself from moaning out in agony as she suddenly recalled him rearranging her fingers on the hilt of a sword.

"Apparently I was trained too well for that," she gritted out.

"Apparently," he said shortly. "Where is your sword?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I want mine back."

She let her arm fall into a relaxed position, hanging loosely. "If you want it, why don't you come get it?"

He stepped forward. "Watch yourself, brat. You have yet to surpass me."

"What, you mean you weren't taking me seriously back there?" she asked sarcastically.

"You're still in one piece. Does that answer your question?"

"Not at all."

"Even with amnesia, you're still the same brat."

She cocked her head to one side and tossed him the blade. "I'm going to assume this means you're my father."

"Why do you assume that?" he asked, catching the sword without difficulty.

"I'm still alive."

"True. How do you know that I'm not an imposter?"

"No imposter can impersonate my father's spirit energy's signature." She took a step forward and took a good luck at her father.

He was no taller than she (she might even be taller than he) with jet black hair, a wary face, and large crimson eyes that were mirror images of her –

"_Where did I come from?" _

"_What?" Her father turned his head to where she was pressed close to his side._

_It was about two hours after the sun had set and considering that it was summer it was pretty late. The two were up in the branches of a sturdy oak tree for the night._

"_Where did I come from?"_

_He blinked and then sighed. "Rephrase your question."_

_She shifted; she had been sure she would get around this little snag. She wondered if her father would get as red and flustered as Yusuke and Aunt Yukina had when she'd asked her question. They had sputtered for a full five minutes before telling her to rephrase her question and ask her father. _

_Apparently they hadn't foreseen him seeing through the rephrasing._

_Oh well._

"_Where do babies come from?"_

_Her father's eyes got big. Really big._

"_Why? Are you planning on having one?"_

"_I just want to know. Daisuke told me that storks bring them, but I know that's a lie because the storks here eat demon infants."_

_Her father appeared to be doing some quick thinking. Finally, he began his explanation. "When a male and female become extremely aroused, they have sex. Sometimes a baby is made during sex."_

"_Oh. What is sex? How does it make babies?"_

_Her father was looking distinctly uncomfortable. "We will discuss that-"_

"_Later? How come?"_

"_You are too young-"_

"_How many people had you killed when you were my age?"_

_He sighed._

_She knew she had won by the weary look in his red eyes._

"_Sex is when a male inserts his penis into a female's vagina. At the height of sex the male injects sperm into the female. If the sperm make it to a certain place in the female then a baby is formed."_

_She turned this all over in her mind. "Is a penis the thing that Raizen and Hiroki have between-"_

"_Yes," her father said quickly, efficiently cutting her off._

"_What's a vagina?"_

"_The opening between your legs."_

_She was horrified. "They stick that into the hole?!"_

"_Lower your voice."_

_She dutifully lowered her voice. "Doesn't it hurt?"_

"_I wouldn't know," he responded wryly. "I don't have one."_

"_So… you stuck your penis into my mother's vagina and the sperm got to the special place and I was born?"_

"_No, you were conceived then."_

"_What's –"_

"_Conceived is when the baby is first made in the womb of the mother."_

"_Where is the special place that the sperm have to get to? And what are sperm?"_

"_Later." His tone allowed for no argument and she sighed, resigned to waiting for 'later'._

_Leaning her head on his side, she posed another question. "Did it hurt for you?"_

"_No. That's enough questions."_

"_One more."_

"_No."_

"_Just one more."_

_A subdued growl… "Fine."_

"_Did it feel right to you? Did you like my mother? Do you think it was a mistake?"_

_He wrapped an arm her like he always did at night to make sure she didn't fall out of the tree. _

"_That's more than one question."_

Something cool was dabbing at her forehead.

Words were floating over her head.

"How long-"

"Is she –"

"-this normal?"

Her head was – surprise surprise – pounding.

She winced and managed to force her eyelids open a crack. Blurred figures were hovering over her, two definitely human and the rest definitely not human.

One was Genkai. She recognized the smell of old age and tea.

The other human figure was extremely familiar. Tall, slender, long pale brown hair… a wry look on a woman's face.

Feeling a sharp headache coming on, she swiftly averted her eyes away from the human woman and instead focused on the demons.

One was a young girl with soft pale blue hair and gentle brown eyes. She had no idea who she was.

Ouch. Another twinge. Moving on…

There was her Aunt Yukina.

There was Hanako.

There was Kurama.

And on the outside of the circle of people surrounding her was the silent figure of her father.

She sat up, one hand cradling her head. "Another episode?"

Genkai nodded grimly. "They seem to be getting worse. When Hiei brought you in you were hyperventilating."

"Does that really happen every time you remember something?" whispered the demonic girl, brown eyes wide.

She nodded. "And who are you?"

The girl's eyes filled with tears. "I'm Hina… Kazuma and Yukina Kuwabara are my parents. Do you really not remember me?"

Yukina was her mother… that made them cousins. She stared hard at the girl…

Nothing but a definite increase in her cranial pressure –

And a strange feeling of fondness and the desire to look out for her.

There was also a definite resemblance between Hina and her mother. The only real differences were height – Hina was almost four inches taller than Yukina – and her brown eyes.

That was good, she thought after a moment. If they had the same eyes, Yukina would have the opportunity to compare their identical crimson orbs and see the similarities.

But despite all these thoughts, she still had no recollection of Hina – as a cousin or otherwise.

Well? Do I know her?

Her sixth sense answered with a strong hint of irritability. _She's _your _cousin, not mine. You tell me._

So I do know her.

_I never said that._

You as good as said that.

_Whatever. Now, do you plan to answer the poor girl or not?_

She pulled herself back to the present to where the girl still waited with a teary expression.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't know who you were until you introduced yourself."

Hina closed her eyes and then, with a clear sign of effort, opened them again with a strained smile. "That's alright. I'm sure you'll regain all of your memories in no time. Right, Mama?"

Yukina smiled tenderly at her daughter. "I'm sure they will, Hina. Now why don't you go and find your brother so we can get ready to leave?"

The girl nodded, bid farewells to all in the room, and exited.

As soon as the door slid closed, the ice apparition's crimson eyes grew somber. "Niira, I don't think you should try to remember anything else. Your brain is under a lot of stress. The original blow to your head greatly damaged you… it's a miracle that you weren't killed.

"It was bleeding steadily when Hanako first brought you here and I couldn't heal it all. Your brain is still bruised and judging from what I saw in my examination… your episodes are just making it worse. If this continues and I have to keep healing you your brain will make itself immune to my healing and I won't be able to heal you."

She sat up straight and folded her legs underneath herself. "It's not like I control the memories. They just come."

She directed her attention to the unnamed human woman. "And who are you?"

The woman smirked. "You've still got your father's charming personality. My name is Shizuru Kuwabara. I'm Hina's aunt and Yukina's sister-in-law and a longtime acquaintance of your father."

A sudden thought struck her. "You're the one who insisted that I needed bras and dragged us to that damn store for an hour."

"Of all the things to remember."

Everyone turned to look at her father who still stood a little ways apart from them. His gaze was directed to the wall opposite him – or at least the space in front of it. He had a strange way of unfocusing his eyes – strange, but familiar.

Ouch.

Okay, don't think about that for the moment. Don't want to burst a blood vessel in my brain.

"That's right," Shizuru chuckled. "And as I recall you swore both you and your father swore never to go shopping with me again only to go back with me four months later for a tampon lesson."

A sharp feeling of unexplained panic raced through her and she immediately found herself trying to change subject.

"How does my remembering my past endanger my brain?"

Genkai settled herself more comfortably on her mat before answering. "That blow to your head affected the memory portion of your brain as I'm sure you know. Basically it's though there's a roadblock in your brain preventing you from accessing your memories while it's healing itself. So when you try to remember anything your brain is straining to keep you from straining your brain. And when you do have a memory, your brain has been double stressed out. That's what causes the brain bruising and the brain bruising causes your episodes. Worst case scenario involves you immune to Yukina's healing energy and killing yourself through a blood vessel bursting in your brain or you going into a permanent coma. Got it?"

"Unfortunately. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is talking to…"

Her eyes traveled over to rest on her father.

"What exactly happened, Hiei?" Kurama asked.

He was silent.

"Please, Mr. Hiei," Yukina pleaded. "It might help us with Niira's condition."

He slowly turned his head to look at them. Or the space separating them from him.

"We spoke. She collapsed and started shaking and hyperventilating."

"Anything else?" Yukina prompted.

For the first time since she had awoken, her father focused his gaze. He turned the full intensity of those eyes on her. He spoke straight to her. "She was babbling something under her breath."

"What was it?"

She once again experienced that feeling of panic – _It's called embarrassment, you little twit._ – remembering what her memory had been about.

"A past conversation we had."

"You and Niira?"

"Yes."

"What about?"

Her father's eyes didn't waver from hers. She saw something moving in the depths of his eyes – something wild and burning.

"Reproduction," he said tonelessly.

Hanako let out an almost suppressed giggle.

She shot the amused redhead a poisonous look, willing her to shut up.

Kurama chuckled softly, ignoring the deadly glare in her father's eyes. "Was there anything else?"

"No."

There was a long moment of silence.

Yukina bit her lip.

Shizuru took a small paper box from her pocket and pulled out a cigarette. She stuck it in her mouth and proceeded to light it up.

"Not inside, Shizuru," Genkai snapped, not opening her eyes as she sat crossed legged on the floor, arms crossed, head slightly bowed and eyes closed.

The woman shrugged and offered the cancer stick to Hiei.

The fire demon silently took and ground the cigarette into his palm without the slightest changing of expression.

Kurama and Hanako stared thoughtfully into the center fire pit of the room.

Her father went back to staring at space.

It was only after they gave up and left the room, leaving only her and her father alone in the room that she recognized the look in his eyes.

And it scared her.

A lot.

Because the look in his eyes had been outright worry and anxious urgency.

And something she had never seen in her father before. Ever.

Fear.

And that scared her.

A whole lot.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello loyal fans! Thank you for waiting! Tell me Hiei's not OOC! No, actually, go ahead and tell me.**

Chapter 10

She lay on the roof of the temple while her father stood a little ways away from her, his head thrown back to observe the stars.

She had quickly decided that there was no way that she was going to spend the night under that roof again and walked off to sleep on the roof, making a quick pit stop for her katana. Her father had soon joined her, not saying a word.

She didn't bother trying to start a conversation; she knew – in that instinctive way she knew so many things – that he wouldn't be much of talker, not to mention that she wasn't in the mood to pull bits of information from an unwilling informant.

Instead she turned her thoughts to something more interesting.

The voice in her head. Was it really the voice of her subconscious? It spoke – in the mental sense – either as if it was she and other times it spoke as another entity entirely.

Was that normal?

It didn't _sound_ normal.

But then… what about this situation sounded normal?

Hmmm…

"What happened?"

"Huh?" She looked around at her father, rather startled by his sudden and voluntary question.

"What happened to you? You were given a simple mission. Deliver a message to Koenma. How did you manage to give yourself amnesia?"

She felt a stab of annoyance. "I was attacked. I think. I woke up surrounded by hostile demons."

"Where was this?"

She arched an eyebrow at him, "I woke up with amnesia and you expect me to know where I was?"

He scowled a bit. "Fine. What happened after that?"

"I wandered around for a while, before I came to a river. After that I went looking for a place to stay the night –"

"What were you looking for?" he asked suddenly.

"A tall tree with either a high fork or a strong branch," she answered instantly.

Then blinked.

How had she known that? "Huh?"

"I taught you that years ago," he said with a slight shrug. "Do you remember?"

"Yes." And she did. That realization filled her with surprise.

"What else?"

She considered whether to tell him or not. On the one hand, he had attacked her and she didn't like to overly divulge information. Then again, he was supposed to be her father according to her painful, sporadic memories and she was fairly certain that she could trust him… as much as you could ever trust a father.

What the hell.

"I ran into a demon who seemed to think I wanted to sleep with him. I was about to deal with him when Hanako showed up. Then a gang of demons showed up and I had an episode and I don't know what happened after that."

"A demon wanted to sleep with you?" He repeated sharply, eyes narrowing.

"Yeah. He was a real idiot."

"Black hair? Black eyes? Bat ears?"

"Yes…"

His face twisted into a very ugly expression that made her wary. "Shura."

She immediately felt rather sorry whoever this Shura was. Then again…

"_I asked you to show me your tits –"_

"Try to leave some of him left for me to deal with."

"First come, first served," he growled. "I needed to talk to speak with him and his father anyway."

"Damn." She sat up and looked him. "Are you leaving then?"

"For the moment." He arched an eyebrow. "Try not to give yourself a brain bleed while I'm gone."

"Goodbye… Father."

"Goodbye, Niira."

He turned away from her.

"Oh," he turned back to her. "One more thing."

He walked over to her, crouched so he was at her level, took her hand and pressed something into her palm. Closing her fingers around the object, he looked straight into her eyes. "Look after yourself and look after this until I get back."

"When will that be?"

"Three days."

He straightened up, strode over to the edge of the roof and was gone.

She stared after him before looking at the thing he had given her.

It was a small round stone attached to a thin leather string to form a necklace. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

She remembered this.

She _remembered_ this.

It was her father's tear gem.

She wondered if this was a good sign or a bad one.

"_What's this?" Niira asked, reaching out and tugging at the pretty stone her father wore around his neck._

"_It's a Tear Gem. Ice apparitions make them with their tears."_

"_How come you have one?" She nestled herself deeper into his stomach. "Did Aunt 'Kina give it to you?"_

"_No, my mother did."_

"_Was it a birthday present? Rai says people get stuff on their birthdays."_

_He looked at her strangely and placed his hand on her forehead. "You have a fever."_

_The little girl looked blearily up at him. "I do?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Yes it was a birthday present?"_

"_What? No, you have a fever. I just told you that."_

"_Oh… where did all the fireflies come from?"_

_He gaped at her. It was a very funny thing to see._

_But what was so surprising?_

_There were little white lights dancing in front of her face._

_Niira reached a hand to touch one. She had never seen fireflies like these. Nope. Never in all of her four years had she ever seen…_

"NIIRA!!"

She flew to her feet as though a firecracker had gone off beneath her ass. Snapping her head from side to side, she searched for the source of the yell.

There on the ground in the soft light of dawn was a small girl with brown hair and dark, clever brown eyes. Flashing a devilish grin that bore a great resemblance to Raizen's, the child yelled again, "C'mon Niira! You're not gonna stay up there all day are ya? Come down here and tell me if you know who I am or not!"

She couldn't decide whether to laugh, gape, or ignore this outrageous outburst.

She decided upon the latter. "I'm going to assume I know you."

"You assume correctly!"

She leapt down from the roof and took a closer look at the strange newcomer. The girl appeared to be about thirteen and was dressed in blue jeans and green tank top, her hair drawn up into a ponytail.

"I'm Rai's sister, Hotaru. Nice to meetcha. Again."

"Raizen has a sister?" she asked, noting the strong pale gold demonic energy warping lazily around her – and the approach of a familiar energy signature.

"Yup," chirped the girl. "Sadly for him, I got all the good looks in the family – EEEEK!"

"That's what you think, runt," Rai quipped lazily, ignoring his sister's screech as he hefted her up onto his shoulder.

She didn't know quite what to make of this so she fell back to her failsafe method of dealing with confusing antics. She ignored them. "What are you doing here, Raizen?"

"It's Saturday," he shrugged. "We always come and visit Grandma on weekends."

"Rai's in a good mood 'cause he got an A on his chemistry test so his grade hopped up to a B. Mom finally gave his cell phone back," Hotaru informed her, completely unperturbed by the fact that she was hanging upside down with her face in her brother's back.

She blinked and glanced at Rai. "Should I offer congratulations or ignore this completely?"

"How about you quit it with the sarcasm and we'll consider my reward delivered?"

"How about I continue to speak sarcastically and ignore this feat of yours?"

"That's okay, too. How's it going, Nii?"

It was her turn to shrug. "I can complain but I'm still alive."

"That's always good to hear."

"Hello!" Hotaru yelled. "Girl being held hostage here!"

"It's not being held hostage when no one cares if you're released," Rai told her calmly.

"RAIZEN URAMESHI! WHAT THE _HELL_ DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

They all jumped as the shrill voice cut through the mostly still morning air.

A slender human woman in her late thirties was marching towards them, hands on her hips. Rather pretty, though slightly wrinkled about the eyes, the stranger had brown hair and soft brown eyes that were currently glowing dangerously.

She was just stunned at how such a creature that would seem harmless normally could so resemble a hungry manticore.

Raizen looked rather terrified. "Uhhh… Hiya Mom!"

"What are you doing to your sister?"

"Nothing…" he said in an innocent tone that fooled no one.

"Put her down _this instant_." From the woman's controlled tone of voice, she was wondering if the woman was preparing to tear someone's throat out – most likely Rai's.

Rai set his sister down and started backing away from his mother as she moved in for the kill.

"C'mon, Nii," Hotaru hissed, running up to her and tugging on her hand. "You should meet Daddy."

The two made a quick getaway as there was a sudden explosion of yelling behind them.

'Daddy' turned out to be a tall, good-looking man in his late thirties with an insane amount of demonic energy seeping out of him. He was an exact replica of Raizen – fast-forwarded about twenty-five years – and grinned good-naturedly as she walked up to him.

"Hey there, Niira. Still amnesia-y?"

"Yeah. You are?"

He gave a mock pout, "You mean you don't remember me?"

"Would I be asking otherwise?"

"I don't know… you can be a real brat when you want to be, Gorgeous."

"What did you call me?"

He looked rather surprised. "I've always called you –"

She groaned. "What about amnesia do you not understand?"

"Okay, okay. I'm Rai and Taru's dad. Name's Yusuke Urameshi. Nice to meetcha. Again."

Déjà vu.

"Likewise." She inclined her head slightly.

"Well, I've known you since you were a little kid. Since you were a baby. I know your dad too. Hell of a fighter." He grinned at her. "I'm glad you're still okay."

"If you can call this okay."

"Don't be stupid," Hotaru snapped. "If you're not dead or dying, you're okay."

"And even death's not so bad to be honest," Yusuke laughed.

She decided against questioning that interesting statement. "In that case, I'm fine."

"That's good," he said with obvious sincerity. He turned to his daughter. "C'mon, Taru, let's go rescue your brother. I think your mother might have drawn blood by now."

As the two began walking away, Yusuke called back, "If you want to hang around, we'll be sparring in the woods after we finish our rescue mission."

She watched them go. Did she really want to stay? She definitely wanted to wait for her father to pump him for information…and to give him the gem back.

Reaching into her pocket, she closed her hand around the small round stone and slowly drew the necklace out. It was beautiful and she loved looking at it…but it wasn't hers. It was her father's and he treasured it above all else.

But she was just borrowing it, she reminded herself. She was going to give it back to him as soon as he came back.

A sudden heart stopping thought hit her like a brick wall, had he given her this to keep because he didn't think he was going to survive whatever he was going to do.

She had barely thought this that she nearly burst out into outright laughter. The day her father did anything so sentimental was the day she would strip down to her underwear and make love to every man she came across.

My amnesia must have affected me more than I thought if I'm thinking that.

_Tell me about it_, came a familiar snide voice. _For a few moments I thought you might actually be seriously questioning your father's ability to fight._

Where have you been? I haven't you for a few hours.

_Did you miss me?_

Hardly.

_Someone's coming._

She had the feeling of soft fur and could almost smell a hint of roses in the air. "Hello Hanako. Kurama."

"Good morning, Niira," Kurama greeted quietly. "Are you here for the sparring?"

"Are you?"

Hanako giggled. "Yes, so is Hiroki."

Another strange feeling of pine needles and fresh herbs came over her just as her sixth sense warned her of the presence of another.

A handsome young man with dark brown hair and familiar emerald green eyes appeared beside Kurama.

She looked him over critically. "Are you supposed to be Hiroki?"

"Yes," the young demon said politely. "It is good to see you again, Niira."

She gave him a brisk nod, before turning her attention to their energy signatures.

All three of them had lazy green energy that curled around them like vines seeking purchase. Each of them however had different colors streaking through their green energy. For Kurama it was rich silver, for Hanako it was a dark red, and for Hiroki a smooth dark blue.

_Others…_

She turned around in time to see that overgrown idiot Daisuke Kuwabara with his gentler – and far more tolerable – sister, Hina and a small boy with jet black hair and brown eyes who bore a rather alarming resemblance to her own father coming towards them.

"Hi, Niira," the young boy said. "I'm Haru, Hina and Daisuke's brother."

"Little brother," inserted Daisuke.

"In age. Not in mentality," Haru deadpanned.

"Why you little –"

Yup, this boy had most definitely taken after his uncle.

"Hey guys!"

It was Hotaru. "Mom's stopped yelling at Rai! Let the games begin!"

**I get the feeling this chapter's not as good as it could be. Any thoughts? REVIEW!!!**

**And just to clear up any confusion:**

**Hiei + Unknown = Niira**

**Yusuke + Keiko = Raizen and Hotaru**

**Kuwabara + Yukina = Daisuke, Hina, and Haru**

**Kurama + Undecided = Hiroki and Hanako**


	11. Chapter 11

**I HATE signing up for classes. It's like cyber space dueling, only worse since you can't see who's screwing you over. CURSE YOU, UNKNOWN STUDENTS!**

Chapter 11

She stood between Hanako and Haru as Genkai walked in front of them, outlining the rules for fighting in her special A class demon reinforced demon basement fighting ring.

"This sparring exercise is strictly for strengthening your tactical skills. Therefore there is no need to blast my temple to Spirit World." The elderly woman looked straight at Raizen before turning to look at her. "I repeat: there is absolutely no reason to further destroy my temple."

She wondered what they done to the old human's home last time and made a mental note to ask about this.

Her sixth sense hummed with adrenaline-filled anticipation. _This is going to be fun._

As long as I don't have another episode.

_Don't be so cynical._

This, coming from you? Can you say hypocrite?

_Touchy._

Wait… how am I arguing with you if you're a part of me?

_That just means you're insane. It's not uncommon in people who've cracked open their heads._

You're not a –

"Good luck, Hanako," Haru said beside her, making her jump.

"Thank you, Haru," smiled the redhead, ruffling the young one's black hair. "But shouldn't you be wishing your brother good luck?"

"Why try to change the inevitable?" he said with a philosophical shrug. "He's gonna loose anyway."

"Then why are you wishing me good luck if I'm going to win anyway?" Hanako asked shrewdly. "Shouldn't you be worrying about your brother?"

Haru arched his brows lazily. "My brother may be an idiot, but he's also a brick wall. It takes a lot to kill him. Besides, I bet Hina that you would win."

He shot her a dangerous look. "You'd better not try to lose just to spite me."

"You bet against your brother?" she said, intrigued by the boy's coolness.

"I don't mess around when it comes to twenty bucks I don't happen to have."

Hanako laughed outright. "Don't worry, Haru, I'll get you your twenty dollars."

"That's all I'm asking," he said.

Still smiling, Hanako stepped forward into the battle area and faced Daisuke as Genkai switched off the lights.

Immediately the entire room, except for the space where the spectators which included herself, Haru, Hina, Yukina, Kuwabara, Yusuke, Keiko, Rai, Hotaru, Hiroki, Kurama, Shizuru, and Genkai, went completely pitch black. Unfortunately for the humans, the spectator area was not designed to allow them to watch the fight without exquisite night vision.

She, however, possessed no such problems and leaned forward to watch the fight. She herself had no questions about who would win – like Haru she strongly favored Hanako to win – but she still wanted to see exactly how Hanako fought.

"Begin!" Genkai barked.

In the pitch blackness, Daisuke activated his glowing Spirit Sword, which wasn't nearly enough to penetrate the darkness. Hanako slid one foot behind the other and raised one hand to her ear.

"Hiya!" Daisuke charged the young woman, only to her side step him and summon her rose whip.

With an almost lazy flick of her wrist, she snapped the whip up and sent it curling toward her opponent.

He yelped and dove out of the way, swinging his sword defensively at the whip menacing him. "Get away, you big weed!"

"Oh that's brilliant, stupid," Haru muttered beside her. "Piss her off. There'll be nothing left of you."

"I thought you didn't care about your brother?" she said in confusion.

"When did I ever say I didn't care about the idiot? I don't like him. That's entirely different from not caring about him. I don't want him to die. Mom would take that really hard."

"So you only care about him because your mother would be upset if he died?"

Haru gave her look that reminded her forcibly of her father. "It happens to be my enabling train of thought."

His eyes suddenly narrowed.

"What?"

He blinked and turned back to watch his brother's fight. "It's nothing."

Shooting a suspicious look at him, she turned back to the fight.

Hanako currently had part of her whip looped around Daisuke's ankle and was dragging him closer as she expertly flipped him over, firmly tangling up in the vine.

Daisuke was hacking at the whip with his sword like a man possessed. Every time he sliced a bit of the plant off, it sprouted more tendrils like some botanical Hydra. He screeched shrilly as a stem boldly curled around his neck.

"Oh no, Daisuke!" Yukina cried, hands pressed to her mouth.

"Do something, son!" roared Kuwabara senior, hopping up and down like a maniac.

With a growl, the trapped human slammed his palm flat to the stone floor. Bright daggers of spirit energy shot up around him, cutting off the strangling tendrils of the whip. He swiftly rolled away from the vines and leapt to his feet, somehow managing to keep his palm on the ground.

The spikes of energy left the writhing bunch of vines on the ground to make their way, carving through the floor, toward Hanako.

The redhead immediately let go of her whip and back flipped away from the attack. It kept coming, following her around no matter what she did. Reaching the wall, she performed a graceful twist midflip, planted her feet against the wall, kicked off it hard, and sent herself flying back into the wall of slicing energy.

With a breathtaking somersault, she maneuvered through the forest of spirit energy knives and summoned a handful of razor sharp leaves. With a graceful flourish, she threw them like shuriken, only to have Daisuke dive out of the way and create another sword. The tall human stood his ground with his double swords as Hanako came towards him.

Somehow, the girl stopped herself, on her hands, upside down, just out of sword range. As her opponent lunged towards her, she fell onto her legs, her hands and feet both still on the ground in such a way that when she stood up she would be facing him. With terribly swift grace, she rose herself upright, her arms rising up over head, fingers stiff as though to draw something out of the earth.

As though pulled by strings attached to her fingers, a huge tree trunk erupted from the ground behind Daisuke.

With a comical look of shock of his face, he turned around.

And was immediately snatched by whiplike vines that gripped his wrists and pulled them together up over his head right as another tendril snaked around his neck and squeezed mercilessly.

Daisuke desperately struggled against his prison to no avail as more vines bound him viciously, keeping his body stretched tightly. His frantic wriggling came to an abrupt halt when the vine around his neck sprouted razor sharp leaves.

"That's it," Haru stated flatly. "He makes a move and she'll cut his throat."

"Why doesn't he summon his Spirit Sword?" she demanded, ignoring a pulsing in her head that had been growing throughout the fight.

"She's got him in a vampire willow," he informed her. "It just gets bigger as you put more energy into it. There's no way to get out by sheer spirit power or brute strength; one willow can drain every drop of an S class demon's energy in one go. If you get caught in one of those without a blade, you're as good as dead."

"The match goes to Hanako," Genkai announced.

"And twenty bucks to me," her cousin muttered.

"Is that twenty bucks all you care about?" Hina cried, turning to face her brother, her hands flying to her hips.

The boy's sharp brown eyes softened as he looked up at his older sister. "Of course not. I just happen to know he's alright so I'm choosing not to worry about him."

Hina opened and closed her mouth several times before shaking her head in exasperation and turning away.

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

The girl threw a twenty dollar bill over her shoulder.

Haru caught it and cheerfully tucked it into his pocket.

"Are you fighting?" she asked with interest.

"What? Nah, Mom says I'm too young."

"How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"That's not young."

"Mom thinks so and Dad agrees with everything she says. He showed me how to fight though. The basics, anyway. You were actually teaching me more of the complex stuff."

She blinked. "I was?"

"Yeah. Guess, I'll have to wait until you remember how to fight until we can continue, huh?"

"I can still fight," she told him.

"Beating my brother doesn't really count as fighting."

"That's true –"

Their conversation was halted by the appearance of Daisuke wobbling towards them, with Hanako supporting him.

After delivering the boy to his tearful mother and his loud father, Hanako approached them. "How was that?"

"Very nice," Haru praised. "I now have twenty bucks to my name."

"Glad to be of service," the warrior smiled. "Are you going to bet on my brother and Taru's fight?"

"No way in hell," he said flatly. "I'd have to bet on Hiroki and then Taru would try to skin me alive."

"Why not bet on Taru then?"

He looked at the redhead as though she had sprouted an extra head. "That's funny. I just got twenty dollars, I don't want to lose it before I've had a chance to warm the dollar bill up."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

There stood Hotaru, hands on hips, face thundercloud dark. "Are you saying you don't think I'll win?"

Haru looked rather trapped, though he lost none of his dry wit. "That's what it sounded like."

"How dare you –"

"C'mon Taru!" called Yusuke. "You can fleece Haru later. Let's see how you do against Hiro."

"Why do they call you Taru?" she asked as the feisty young girl began striding off into the darkness after Hiroki.

"Because I asked them to," Hotaru laughed. "And I asked you to call me Taru, too! So don't forget and call me Hotaru again!"

A sharp spike of pain bloomed in the back of her head, increasing the throbbing, as she watched the kid being swallowed up in the darkness and then glanced at Hanako.

The redhead smiled fondly after Taru. "She's always been a real spitfire."

"I can tell."

In the throes of the darkness, Hiroki and Taru faced each other.

"Here we go," Hanako murmured.

**No real plot advancements here. Just thought it would be funny to beat the crap out of Kuwabara's kid. YEH HANAKO! Next chapter we'll really get into the plot! As always, please REVIEW!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Whoo-hoo! I am just cranking out these chapters. I am now performing a happy dance. Or not.**

**Well, this chapter will have you on your knees begging for more! Enjoy!**

Chapter 12

"Hey."

She turned to look at Haru.

The boy's eyes were fixed on her throat.

"What is it?"

He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully at her before declaring, "Nothing."

She continued watching him long after he looked away. What was going on with him?

She looked down at herself. Nothing out of the ordinary. Her red shirt was clean and loose enough to hide her father's Tear Gem presence around her neck, though it was simple enough to see the string that held the stone.

Wait. A. Second.

Could he sense the stone? Was that even possible?

She nearly slapped herself.

Of course it was.

Carefully, the girl flared her power just enough to hide the stone's tiny emanations and had her suspicions confirmed when Haru shot a covert look at her.

Yup, that boy had definitely sensed the stone.

Did he suspect?

Was this really the time to be thinking about that?

A sudden yelp attracted her attention.

Taru was dodging away from a long blade of grass that Hiroki was using as a sword. However, the young man wasn't using it like she and her father did, he seemed to prefer using it as a rapier. Which was a good thing for Taru, else the kid would find herself bleeding out on the floor by now.

Another thing in Taru's favor was her apparent grace. Though it wasn't nearly as impressive as Hanako's, it was obvious the girl had had some serious training.

The young halfling neatly managed to catch the blade with her bare hands, twist it out the way, and kick the boy squarely in the stomach.

Hiroki grunted and hacked painfully, but didn't back down. He wrenched his sword powerfully to the right, slicing Taru's hands open right to bone and nearly throwing the girl off.

But Taru was nothing if not stubborn and she continued to cling tenaciously to the foil, and kicked furiously at his legs as she began to glow a soft gold.

"Oh shit!" Yusuke hissed loudly. "She'd better not be thinking about trying the –"

"Don't be stupid, Dad," Rai snapped. "Of course she is. She's too pigheaded to do anything else."

Yusuke's wife gasped. "Oh no, Hotaru…"

There was a loud bang, a bright light that lit up every corner of the tar black room, blinding them all, and two yells. One of them was a pained cry from a young man, the other a cry of "Spirit Wave!"

There was dead silence, and then footsteps.

It was Hiroki, with half his clothes burned off, bruised and bleeding lightly, holding a semiconscious Taru in his arms.

"She nearly wiped herself out," he said by way of explanation, handing the stunned girl over to her parents. "That Spirit Wave of hers will be unstoppable once she fully develops it completely."

"It definitely seems to pack a hell of a wallop as it is," Raizen commented, looking over his friend's savaged body.

"It does indeed," Hiroki said with a grim smile.

"Is she going to be alright, Yukina?" Taru's mother asked, cradling her daughter tenderly.

The ice apparition gave the girl a quick once over and gave her parents a reassuring smile. "She's alright, these hands just need to be bandaged and she needs a good rest."

"Well in that case…" Raizen straightened up and punched his fist into his hand. "Let's go, Nii."

"Rai," Yukina began reprovingly. "It's probably not a good idea for Niira to be trying to fight in her condition."

"I'll be fine," she said firmly, ignoring the steady pulsing in her skull. She shot a look at her opponent. "Besides, I want to see what you've got, since I can't remember."

"Niira, please," her aunt begged. "You're not well."

"I'm fine," she assured the distraught woman patiently.

Turning away, she walked with Rai into the darkness.

The blackness pressed around her like a physical presence, cutting her off from the spectators and muffling her sixth sense.

The annoying voice was reduced a soft whisper. _This is a dangerous place to fight._

Really? And here I just thought it was scenic.

_Stop being an idiot. This place is dangerous._

Don't you think I know that?!

"Begin!" Genkai's old voice rang out.

Rai began circling her, searching for an opening. She turned with him, never showing him her back. Her hand drifted to her sword and his eyes immediately narrowed. He knew she was a swordsman. Well, he had said he had known her for a long time.

Her body relaxed in a defensive position, shoulders shoved back, back slightly hunched. Her legs were shoulder length apart, slightly bent. She was taut and ready. Her eyes beckoned him forward.

"Let's see what you've got, halfblood."

"You're speaking so sweetly today, Nii," he grinned, taking his own stance.

Seeing his relaxed but ready position made her head ache even more but she stoically ignored it.

Then they were clashing, the flat of her sword blade flat against his arm. For a moment they stood there in a deadlock, before she abruptly leapt back and switched her sword position, leaving him to stumble awkwardly forward – right into her sword strike. With a sudden flare of his energy, he went from a mid-C class demon to a high A class demon, startling her for half a nanosecond, just enough for him to stop his staggering and regain his balance.

This all happened in less than a single second.

Then they were smashing against each other, landing blows and strikes that would annihilate lesser foes. Their tempo increased dramatically as they continued the battle.

She felt wild – exhilarated, as though she had been waiting for years and years to find such a worthy opponent – as she slashed and whipped the air with her blade, annoyed that none of her hits were landing. There was nothing for it then.

She sped up, pushing her body to the limit, dodging around his defenses and scoring the first hit. The scent of fresh blood colored the air and she saw his blue and yellow energy turn metallic – from navy blue to sapphire and yellow to stark gold.

Things were getting interesting.

Now if only that pain in her skull would stop.

It was building every second, but so was her adrenaline.

She backed up fast, putting a respectful distance between herself and her opponent.

"How about putting that sword down, Nii?" Rai suggested, his brown eyes glowing brilliantly. "I want to fight you one on one. Power to power. No boundaries."

She grinned ferally. "Wonderful idea."

She tossed away her blade, ignoring the lecture she was sure to get from her father for this and the stabbing pain in her forehead, and faced him unarmed. Or as unarmed as she ever could be.

They faced each other for a moment, the pressure in her head escalating.

Neither noticed the slow disintegration of the stones around them.

She smashed his face in hard enough to obliterate a stone boulder and was rewarded with a crushing kick to the ribs. Shaking this off, they traded furious blows, getting faster and stronger at every turn.

Her head was now pounding so painfully that she felt as though she was standing in a bell tower as the enormous bells clanged and clashed overhead. It was getting rather difficult to concentrate on predicting and dodging his moves. It helped that she seemed to know his basic repertoire of techniques – though not nearly as extensively as she knew her father's.

It also helped that she absolutely refused to lose. She would not loose.

She would not.

She couldn't exactly pin the source of this rather irrational determination down, but at this particular moment the reason didn't matter.

She would not lose.

_Pace yourself!_ Hissed the voice in her head.

She ignored it. She hadn't even begun to reach her full potential and she intended to take it all the way with Rai. She was just going to push herself until she knew the absolute limit of her power.

He grabbed her arm and she hit her knees, twisting and squirming. When his grip remained firm, she lashed out at his legs and heard the nasty snap of something important breaking. He too fell on his knees but refused to let go of her arm. Her hand went to her boot and she wrenched out her boot knife.

Flipping it expertly in her hand, she showed him the deadly blade.

His eyes widened.

She turned it lovingly in her fingers and readied it to throw.

She threw it.

His shirt disintegrated and black tribal tattoos bloomed out across of his skin, just as the knife whizzed past him harmlessly to vanish into the darkness.

He didn't seem to register the fact that she had voluntarily cast aside the hidden weapon, choosing to dive upon her with a primeval roar. Thankfully she had still been in full battle mode and she was able to kick him off her before he got his hands on anything important.

She leapt to her feet and faced him with new cautiousness.

Rai wasn't himself; his eyes glowed with sheer animalistic bloodlust and the simple need to win.

_Uh-oh._

I know, I know.

She tried to draw out her full power.

And hit a block.

She could most definitely feel her latent power on the other side of that block, but she couldn't tap into it.

She dodged a blow that would have shattered her skull and leapt away to put a good distance between them which was complicated by the fact that his speed had doubled, almost putting them on equal grounds. As it was she was just a hair faster than him.

How was I able to draw my power out before? She asked herself frantically. Now was not the time to be worried about a brain bleed. She NEEDED TO BE STRONGER. NOW.

She tried to remember, made a conscious effort – and felt her head crushed.

She dropped.

For a split second she thought he had actually hit her, only to find him looming over her as she cradled her head in her hands. Or at least she thought it was him.

It was hard to tell through the red haze…

What was…

_That's it._

_Pass out, girl._

_I'm taking over._

Wait – what?

There was a sudden burning on her skin –

She screamed outright for the first time in more than ten years.

Her head.

Oh gods.

Why couldn't she just die?

She wanted to die.

So much.

So…

Much…

She had never been so happy to pass out.

**Mercy!**

**You'll just have to wait 'til I update to find out what happens to our fair heroine!**

**As always, review please! ******


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"_What are you doing, Rai?" Niira asked, arms folded across her chest._

"_Shush!" he hissed. "Everyone's parents have gone out for the night. We're trying to get into Grandma's liquor cabinet."_

_She rolled her large eyes. "If everyone's parents are out, why are you whispering?"_

_He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, closed it again, before finally managing an "I'm just trying to be careful."_

_She crouched down beside him and looked at the padlocked cabinet. She blinked in incredulity of his lockpick. _

"_Are you honestly using a hairpin to try to pick a lock?"_

"_It works best!"_

"_So says Hollywood," she scoffed. "Move over."_

_She slid her hand into her boot and drew out the boot knife her father had given her when she had achieved S class status. With the expertise of master thief, she flicked open the lock and removed the padlock. "Why are you trying to get at this alcohol? You're a half demon. It won't affect you."_

"_Au contraire, ma chere," he disagreed. "This stuff is patented demon brew. A single drop for a human is like a pound of cocaine."_

"_Whatever." She handed him the padlock and stood up. "Don't expect me to clean up after you guys after you throw up your guts."_

"_Of course not," he laughed. "You're going to join us!"_

"_No I'm not."_

"_C'mon, Nii," he said, widening his large brown eyes to puppy dog proportions. "It's just one night. I won't be able to do this again until I'm twenty one."_

"_So?"_

"_I'm seventeen now! That's almost four years!"_

_She was unmoved. "So?"_

"_Nii, have a heart," he pleaded. "Just a few sips and you can be on your way. Please?"_

"_Fine," she growled. "Just one drink then I'm gone. Do we have an understanding?"_

"_Yup," he said cheerfully, giving her huge grin. _

_Her stomach did that frustrating flutter._

_She gritted her teeth and stoically ignored it._

"_You okay?"_

_She looked at him coldly. "If my father finds out about this, I am deader than dead. I'm holding you personally responsible."_

_That accursed grin again. "I'll make sure to remember that."_

_She seriously hated that grin._

_The next thing she knew she was sitting in the living room with Daisuke, Hiroki, Hanako, Rai and four dozen bottles of alcohol. The five of them stared at the bottles. _

"_Who goes first?" Hiroki asked._

"_Not me," Hanako said quickly._

"_Me!" Raizen and Daisuke both yelled. They dove for a bottle each and started gulping, at least Daisuke did. Raizen merely held the same bottle to his lips, watching as his friend glugged bottle after bottle. _

_It was during the fifth beer that Daisuke leapt up onto the table, slurring his words and yelled, "I'a bee'n oo, Ooameshi!"_

_And passed out promptly._

"_Well," Rai said cheerfully, setting down his beer and standing up. "Now that he's out of the way, we can get started."_

_He grabbed his unconscious friend beneath the armpits and dragged him to a corner of the room. Once he had dumped the drunk, he came back and sat down._

_After passing out bottles to each of them, he picked up his own and looked around. "On the count of three?"_

"_One…" They each opened their bottles. "Two…" They each lifted their bottles to their lips. "Three."_

_They all drank._

_She thought it was a strange drink, sweet but with a slightly spicy hint to the aftertaste. Not at all unpleasant._

_Hiroki finished his bottle. "That's enough for me. I don't want a hangover in the morning." He glanced at his sister. "Hana?"_

_His sister was still nursing her first bottle. "I'll stay, brother. And you should, too."_

_The demon sighed deeply. "Alright."_

_She watched this exchange with vague interest._

_For the next two hours, they sat around slowly downing bottle after bottle, chatting casually about trivial life stories. No one seemed to notice when the stories began to get repeated. Rai's bottle count was at five, Hiroki's at four, Niira's at three, and Hanako just starting her third. _

"_Hey, Nii?"_

"_Hmm?" she acknowledged Rai's words._

"_How come y'know readin' and writin'? I mean, you live in Demon World."_

"_So?"she asked, finishing off her drink._

"_Well, do most demons know 'ow to read and stuff?" he asked, setting down his fifth bottle which was still half full._

"_Not really," she said, shrugging. "Not a lot of demons care to learn."_

"_How did you learn?"_

"_Father taught me."_

"_Hiei knows how to read?"_

"_Of course!" She was starting to feel more than a little insulted. Was he insinuating that her father was ignorant?_

"_Relax!" he said quickly, offering her another bottle._

_She took it grudgingly. "He taught me when I was five."_

"_Why then?"_

_She shrugged, opening the bottle as he took a healthy swig from his own. "Had a broken ankle. There was nothing else to do. So I learned."_

"_How'd he teach you?"_

"_Taught me letters and the sounds. It was easy, really."_

"_Yeah? It was tough for me. What about you guys?"_

"_Reading wasn't too hard," Hiroki admitted. "Once you knew the letters and sounds."_

_Hanako nodded, leaning back and sipping quietly._

"_You know, this stuff really isn't that bad." She was getting a rather nice buzzing sensation._

"_It isn't, is it?" Hanako agreed contentedly. "But I really think I've had enough – three is more than enough for me!"_

_She stood up, waved to them all and walked off, slightly off balance._

_Hiroki stood as well. "I'd better make sure she goes into the right room. Good night you two."_

_And so she and Rai were left alone, drinking in silent companionable silence._

_The buzzing sensation was becoming more of a warm haze, but she didn't mind. Her father wasn't supposed to be back until the day after tomorrow, after all. What was the harm in one night of drinking?_

_She was just popping off the top of another bottle when a furious – and slightly fuzzy – thought hit her. _

"_Are you trying to get me drunk enough to sleep with you?" she demanded, jumping to her feet._

_And swaying._

"_Wha?" he looked at her incredulously. "'Course not."_

_There was a pause. "Do you want to?"_

_She was practically smoking with her own fury. "No, you idiot, I do not want to sleep with you!"_

"_Thank god."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?!" she screeched angrily. How could he not want to sleep with her? She could have any guy she wanted! She just didn't want to, damn it!_

"_Not my type."_

"_And what is your type?" she growled, getting angrier by the moment._

"_I d'know." _

_He tipped his head back, polishing off another drink. "Pretty, smart, strong…"_

_Rai turned his slightly glazed eyes on her. His gaze traveled up and down her still standing body. His face slowly turned from appraising to approval._

"_What?" she snapped, hands going to her hips. The sudden movement made her slightly unsteady._

"_You are my type."_

"_I know that!" she retorted._

"_Well, at least ya look like my type."_

"_You said you're type is strong and smart! I'm both!" She was furious that he didn't think she was good enough for him. He was half-human after all, and even though she wasn't quite sure that she was full demon, she was also one hundred percent sure that she didn't have a drop of human blood in her veins. That meant she was stronger than him!_

"_I know that," he said calmly, reaching for another drink._

_She blocked his hand. "Then how do you not know that I'm your type?!"_

_He shrugged and pushed aside her hand, almost knocking her off balance. "Ya only know ithey're yer type ithere're fireworks."_

_She cocked her head in confusion. "What fireworks?"_

_He shrugged again. "No clue. Thas wha Hina said."_

_She almost scoffed. "What does Hina know about that stuff?"_

"_She jussaid tha when two people're the same type there're sparks."_

_She came around the table to sit down next to him. She didn't want to not be anyone's type. Whatever that meant. She was sure she had known what it had meant before…but now she couldn't remember… She decided that 'type' meant being at the same power level as another. That made sense._

"_I am your type," she informed him firmly. "Probably more."_

_He shook his head and reached for another drink. "No' withou' th-sparkses."_

_She sat back and tried to think what kind of sparks he meant. "Like fire?"_

_Rai popped off the top to another drink and took a sip before he answered, "Think i's more like 'lectricty."_

_Electricity? She knew what that was. Like lightening. Or a light bulb._

"_What else?" she pressed, snatching his hand as he again began to raise the bottle to his lips._

_Something raw and strange seemed to zap through her touch._

_They both looked at her hand on his arm._

"_Like that?" she asked._

"_Uh-huh."_

_They looked at each other. _

_Rai put down the bottle._

_She couldn't pull her hand away from his arm._

_Nor her gaze from his._

_Was he getting closer?_

_Or was she?_

_Or were they both?_

_Her mind didn't seem to be processing anymore._

_It was blank._

_Her body was all cold._

_Except for her hand._

_That was burning hot._

_He was warm._

_Really warm._

_And so were his lips._

_And suddenly the power that had run through her when she had touched him was barely static electricity compared to the feeling that was coursing through her veins. _

_She slid her hand up his arm and gripped his upper arm. He wasn't getting away now._

_Apparently he had the same idea because he had turned away from the table and put his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer. Not that she had any plans to pull away anytime soon._

_If this was what it was to be the same type as another then she hoped she was the exact same type as Rai._

_Because what he was doing with his mouth and…oh!...his tongue felt good._

_She opened her mouth and –_

The pain was the first thing that penetrated her memory, but it was dulled by a strange feeling of weightlessness. Right on the heels of the pain came a low voice that was kept calling for…someone?

Was it her?

Yes.

The voice was calling her name.

But what was her name?

"Niira! Niira!"

Niira. That was her name.

"_Niiro means red," her father told her. "And since you are the only child who inherited the red eyes that both myself and your aunt have, it was only appropriate for you to be named for the color."_

Did she really want to come back?

If she did, she would be coming back to pain…but also to that voice…

No… she didn't want to…

She preferred the weightlessness…

The next thing she was aware of was the feeling of a mouth on hers.

That mouth was important. Really important.

No… that wasn't right. The person the mouth belonged to was important.

The mouth was pushing and pulling air from her lungs. Forcing her body to breathe.

It wasn't the nicest feeling.

It was increasing her awareness to the pain – making her feel her body's weight again.

The mouth was gone and she was vaguely aware of sudden pressure on her chest – steady pumping.

There was another voice.

Far more important than the first.

This one she wanted to go to.

There should have been another one, she thought hazily. Wasn't there?

This one voice was important to her but there was another voice that was also important – and these two voices were much more important than the first –

Her father.

That's right, her father's voice should've been there… Where was it?

Then who was the other voice? The one calling to her?

After hearing and touch came a new sense, smell.

Blood. A lingering scent of fire and a definite odor of ashes.

And fear. Lots of fear.

She could sense more and more presences joining the one pumping her chest.

Soft energy tried to flow into her, but it was somehow blocked.

Her Aunt Yukina.

That's right…her aunt, the healer.

_Niira! Niira, child!_

It was the sixth sense voice.

_Yes, little one, it's me. You have to open your eyes._

Don't want to.

_Did I ask if you wanted to?_

Don't want to.

_Argh! You children are agonizingly stubborn. How do you think the others will feel if you stay here and sleep? If you don't open your eyes now, you'll never be able to open them again. How will that make your father feel?_

She was getting the oddest feeling in her skull – a slight itching. It was a welcome change of pace from the anguish of pain in her head.

And then another voice – her father's voice – was in her head, mingling with the voice of the sixth sense.

"_Niira?! What the hell?"_

Father?

"_Girl, what the hell is going on? Your demonic signature was gone. It's barely present now! What in the nine hells have you been doing?"_

I'm trying to go to sleep.

"_Like hell. Open your eyes now."_

I'm tired.

Her father's mental voice went deadly cold.

"_Open your eyes. Now."_

"NIIRA! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Niira!"

"Niira?"

"Niira!"

"Nii? Open your eyes."

The mouth was on hers again.

Alright, she thought sourly. Alright. I'm opening my eyes. Now get out of my head.

"_Good. We'll discuss this later."_

She tried to open her eyes – and coughed instead, causing the mouth to immediately withdraw.

She thought she was going to sprain something, she was hacking so hard. Strong arms were around her, holding her in a sitting position.

Around her there were noises of crying and murmuring, but the most immediate was a familiar voice in her ear.

"R-Rai?"

"Yeah. It's me. Welcome back, Nii."

She rested her head on his chest. "Tired."

He shook her lightly and she only barely registered the black markings on his bare arms and chest. "Stay with me, Nii."

There was an indistinct voice somewhere over his shoulder.

Rai nodded to it.

"Listen, Nii," he said seriously to her. "I can only let you go to sleep now if you promise to open your eyes in the morning. Deal?"

She blinked up sleepily at him. "Deal."

He grinned that damned grin. "See ya in the morning, then."

She was out before he finished the sentence.

**Okay. How was it?**

**Don't worry, everything – well, a lot of it – will be explained in the next chapter. **

**Guess what's coming next? You guessed it! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

She was alone in the darkness, lying flat on her back.

After a moment, she climbed to her feet and looked around.

Everything was black and even her incredible night vision couldn't penetrate through the shadows. She turned in a slow circle to see if there was anything to see… Okay what about the ground? There didn't seem to be a floor she was standing on, just solid gloom like everywhere else.

"Hello?" she called.

Something small and round came bouncing out of the darkness and hit her foot.

As she bent to pick it up the darkness it had come out of lit up brightly and suddenly revealed an area that she recognized as Genkai's main courtyard. Staring at the space in disbelief, she had to force her attention back to the object at her feet.

It was a soccer ball.

She squeezed in lightly in her hands and turned it over in her hands.

It felt real enough, worn leather and stitching under her fingers. The black and white hexagons were faded to a rather uniform grey but there was a name scrawled messily across the surface.

"Raizen Urameshi," she read.

This was Raizen's?

"Hey, lady!"

She nearly leapt a foot in the air. Whipping around, she saw the source of the voice.

It was a boy – a very familiar boy.

"Raizen?"

"Yup," the boy said easily, flashing her a cheerful boyish smile.

She suddenly noticed a girl behind him.

This girl was not as familiar as the boy, and yet…

The child had jet black hair pulled back into a ponytail and jewel bright red eyes.

"_When you were a brat – which you still are by the way – you had black hair."_

"Niira?"

"Who wants to know?" the girl demanded suspiciously.

"No one," she said quickly.

"Well," Rai began cautiously. "You kind of have our ball… Can we have it back?"

"Sure." She held the ball out to him.

He grinned the prototype of the grin that would one day begin to torment her and took the ball. "Thanks!" He looped an arm through that of his companion. "C'mon, Nii!"

Niira shot him an annoyed look, but allowed him to pull her away.

The two went back into their still bright, colorful world. On the threshold of his world, Rai turned and called back to her.

"Hurry up! Come on! Don't you want to play?"

She took a tentative step toward the light only to have it swallowed up by the darkness and replaced by a tall, old fashioned mirror.

With a strange feeling of regret, she stared at the place the gateway into the light had been, where the mirror now stood.

As she looked longing at it, another feeling emerged.

Curiosity.

She was curious about that mirror.

She took a step toward the mirror.

And another.

And another.

She was walking steadily toward the mirror.

She was now standing in front of it.

She looked into it.

The younger version of her looked out at her.

"Hello," Niira said, brushing her ebony bangs off her face – only to have them flop right back onto her forehead.

"Hello," she replied, staring in fascination at the young girl.

She was actually quite a lovely young girl, the black hair seemed to make her face look pale despite her tan, giving her dainty look. Her long black lashes made her exotic red eyes look even bigger than they were. She had an exquisite face…

"You're not looking at me," snapped the girl in the mirror, crossing her arms over her skinny chest.

"And what am I looking at?"

"My face," snarled the girl, looking at her murderously.

"I beg your pardon, Princess," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

Niira's face twisted furiously. "You sound like my father."

She smiled wryly. "Thank you."

There was a pause.

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Seven, in human years," Niira informed her stiffly. "I'll be eight in December. How old are you?"

She shrugged helplessly. "Not exactly sure. About seventeen in human years, I think."

Niira stared at him in confusion. "How do you not know how old you are?"

She shrugged again. "It's a long story."

The girl in the mirror opened her mouth –

And quite suddenly she wasn't the same.

Well, she was still the same person.

Just fast-forwarded about five years.

A twelve year old Niira scowled out at her.

"Who are you?" Niira asked.

She cocked her head, feeling rather off balance. "I'm you."

Niira looked at her, one black eyebrow raised. "Whatever you say."

She took a good look at this new version of herself. She was still flat-chested, but her face had started to take a more womanly air and her once jet black hair was now streaked with bright silver.

"Ugh," her younger self grumbled, picking at a strand of the luminous highlight. "Look at this. Can you imagine me trying to sneak up on anyone with this hair? I can just kiss my stealth goodbye."

"Not necessarily," she said. "Look at my hair. It's almost completely silver, but I'm very gifted in stealth."

She didn't know why, but she felt no need to be vague or defensive with this girl. It had to be because the one she was talking to was herself.

Whatever.

"Yeah…" the girl conceded. "But you probably had to work really hard to get it right."

She rolled her eyes in disgust. "Well excuse me for thinking that being accomplished in stealth is worth some hard work."

Niira gave her poutish look. "Okay, okay… I get the point."

There was a moment of rather uncomfortable silence.

"Hey," Niira said suddenly. "Have you ever heard of the Silver Dragon?"

She leaned forward immediately, trying to keep her face calm. "I know a little about it. Why?"

Niira shrugged. "I heard about it from some of the patrollers back home."

"Home?"

"In Demon World. One of the patrollers was saying that he had heard that the Silver Dragon's old master had died and it was looking for a new master. When I asked my father about it, he just said the Silver Dragon was a dragon that reigned over the sky," Niira elaborated. "What do you know about it?"

"Just that it's almost as powerful as the Black Dragon of Hell, if not as powerful or even more powerful. It's supposed to use silver flames."

Niira's garnet eyes went rather dreamy. "It would be so cool to control the Silver Dragon like Father controls the Black Dragon."

"'Cool'?" she repeated in amusement.

The younger girl stiffened. "I heard it from Rai. It's a word!"

"Oh, I know it's a word," she assured the girl. "It's just rather strange to hear you say it."

Her younger self flushed darkly.

And shifted yet again.

And once again she found herself looking at herself.

But this time the girl in the mirror was her mirror image – the same age as herself.

"Hey," Niira said casually.

"Hello," she responded nervously.

"Listen," Niira said briskly. "I can't talk long. I've been ordered to deliver a message to Lord Koenma."

The mirror girl rolled her eyes. "I've been reduced to a messenger girl, lovely. Father's going to love this."

With sudden excitement, she leaned toward the mirror. "You're about to leave?"

The other nodded. "Yes. And I think that idiot Shura is going to try and follow me to convince me to sleep with him." Another eye roll. "You'd think after the second dozenth time he would the message that I will not sleep with him."

"Why not?" she found herself asking.

"Why?" Niira seemed surprised. "Because he is a pompous jackass who thinks he is entitle to everything he wants – women included – just because his father was once the king of Demon World. Besides, I don't plan on having anyone touch me."

Her mirror image's cheeks suddenly colored.

"What?"

"Nothing," the girl said too quickly. "Look, if I ever give a man my virginity, he is going to have to be a hell of a warrior and acknowledge that I am more than just a vagina on legs."

She nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"I don't understand why every man I meet thinks –"

Her mirror image vanished like the others to be replaced by another woman.

She couldn't remember ever seeing this woman.

This newcomer was tall with white skin and hair so silvery that it was almost white. Eyes of such a penetrating silver blue gleamed out of a flawless face. Soft grey silky clothes covered her sparingly without being slutty. Her body was lean, graceful and definitely that of a woman, powerful without being bulky. A grey belt at her waist held a handful of sharp knives and a pair of wickedly keen swords.

In short, the woman in the mirror looked as though a team of world class artists had spent their entire lives creating the perfect woman warrior.

"Who are you?"

"You don't know who I am?" the woman rolled her silver blue eyes. "I've only been here the entire time."

"Well, you're not me."

"No, I'm not. Not really. My name is Alya."

"Alya? That's not Japanese."

"Niira isn't strictly Japanese, either. Your father just twisted a word to suit his needs."

"I like my name."

The woman in the mirror paused and tilted her head back. "Hmmm… let's see… Niira. Niiiiira. Yes, I suppose it is a lovely name. It rolls off the tongue."

"It does?"

"It does."

She murmured her name to herself, trying to hear if it really did 'roll off the tongue'. She couldn't tell.

Anyway…

"Who are you?"

Alya ignored her question. "Do you know what this mirror does?"

She blinked in confusion. "No…"

"It is called a self mirror. It exists in every person's mind, it shows the person as they really are. It allows them to be honest with themselves."

"It showed me as a little kid."

"The mirror shows us as we are, as we were, and everything we could be."

She bit her lip, thinking this over. "Then, you're a part of me?"

Alya ginned at her. "You're getting warmer. About time, too."

That voice… those words…

"You're my sixth sense."

"Ding, ding, ding!" the woman sang. "I am."

"But you're not really me."

"No. I'm not."

"What are you?"

"We'll talk about that later."

"But –"

"Later, Niira," the woman said flatly.

She scowled. "If you're not a part of me, why are you inside me?"

"_Later_."

She growled. "Doesn't one make the rules in one's own head?"

Alya smiled sardonically. "If that were true you would remember your past with no problem. But, back to the problem at hand. Something is coming. Something big. You need to wake up and face it."

"Aren't I awake now?"

A cool sarcastic laugh, like a breath of chill wind. "Of course you are… you just had conversations with yourself at earlier stages of your life…and now you're speaking to a voice in your head. Clearly you are so awake."

"Okay, okay," she said grudgingly. "I'm asleep."

"Exactly!" the other said triumphantly.

She wondered whether to ask the next question – and found herself gasping it out in a rush. "That memory I just had… with Rai… was it real?"

Alya smiled. "What does your heart tell you?"

She flushed.

Brightly.

"Oh man…" she put her head in her hands. "I kissed that idiot. I was drunk and I let him have my first kiss."

"That's what you're worried about?" the woman demanded.

"No…"

"Well," Alya's smile grew into a grin. "Then you should have no trouble waking up. He's waiting for you."

"I'm worried about my pride."

The woman's grin fell from her face immediately. "_That's _what you're worried about?"

She shuffled her feet. "Why did he kiss me?"

Alya scowled darkly. "Why did you kiss him back?"

She glared back. "I was drunk."

"Whatever you say, little one. You should probably wake up now. Your friends are freaking out."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"How should I know? I'm in your head, too. And Niira?"

"Yes?"

The silver eyes went dead serious. "Be careful. Now go home."

The next moment, Alya was gone.

The next, the mirror was gone.

The blackness was all around her but this darkness was different. It was warm and seemed to be pushing her up…and up…and up…

Toward light…

She remembered Daisuke once going on and on about how when a person died, they saw a big white light.

Well, she had never believed anything that idiot said.

She reached toward the light.

And found herself laid out on a nice, soft Western style bed, looking up into several pairs of worried eyes.

Brown eyes. Hina.

Brown eyes. Haru.

Blue eyes. Hanako.

Brown eyes. Taru.

Red eyes. Yukina.

Brown eyes. Rai.

"Welcome back, Niira."

**Hides. Okay, so I didn't explain everything – actually, I probably just brought up more questions…**

**Hmm…**

**What the hell?! I'm the authoress so I'll do whatever the hell I want! ;) **

**But seriously, what do you think?**

**Review!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

She blinked several times, trying to match the voice with the faces over her.

"Over here, Niira."

She tried to sit up and was immediately rewarded with a sharp jab of pain.

Suddenly the others withdrew and made room for a strange woman with long blue hair and large pink eyes.

She stared hard at the woman.

"Don't even think about it!"

She looked at Rai. "What?"

He scowled darkly. "Don't even think about trying to remember her. You gave yourself a grade A brain bleed."

"I did?"

"Yeah. You did."

Meanwhile, the new woman had slipped between them and helped her sit up, placing a softly glowing hand on her painful abdomen.

"Thanks," she said quickly to the woman, before turning back to Rai. "Tell me exactly what happened. Leave nothing out."

"Okay," he took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of her bed.

She immediately noticed the black tribal markings were still all over his skin, but decided not to say anything and let him tell him story.

"Well, when you pulled that knife on me…do you remember when I told you about my ancestral grandfather? The demon?"

"Yeah."

"Well…he had this thing where when his life was in extreme danger he went on… well, call it extreme autopilot. All he focused on was survival and he sort of lost himself until the danger was over.

"That's what happened to me. As soon as I saw you throw that knife, it was like something pushed me aside and all of a sudden I wasn't in charge of my own body. And whatever it was that was controlling me saw you as a major threat. So I came at you with all of my strength…"

His voice trailed off for a moment.

"Then it was like you kind of exploded… You started screaming and smoking and your shirt just kind of burned away… your eyes went – silvery. It was like silver paint mixing with red. Kind of creepy, actually. Anyway, then you were fighting me on equal terms – but it wasn't you that I was fighting, just like it wasn't really me that was fighting you. We fought for a while, then we got face to face…and it was like that time I drew out your power, remember?"

She nodded.

"Well, then it was like our powers kind of – I don't know – _touched_. And then I was me again and you were just kind of staring through me, and then you just keeled over."

He swallowed hard. "When I got to you, you were…you were gone. Dead. It took a couple of rounds of CPR to get you up again. After a few minutes, you regained consciousness. Do you remember that? Anyway, Yukina tried to heal you but your body wouldn't respond so we had to call in Botan over here to help out Grandma."

He waved a hand toward the woman.

"They fixed you up pretty well, we brought you here and well, you've been asleep for only a few hours."

"How long?" she asked.

He glanced down at his watch. "About eighteen hours?"

"You call that a few?"

Rai shrugged with a wry grin. "Well, considering you were completely dead for about five minutes, and were bleeding like crazy inside your head, I'd say it wasn't such a long time."

She had to give him that one. "Point taken… How was I? When I was fighting?"

"Before the change or after?"

"Both?"

"Is that really important?" Yukina asked patiently.

"It'll make me feel better," she said with a small smile.

Taru giggled.

Her aunt sighed and sat down on a nearby chair.

"Well," Rai began. "You were really good before the change. But you're always a challenging opponent. Technically you have one more victory on me than I have on you. Yesterday you were really on your game, though. After the change, though… you were… beyond incredible… I can't really describe it… Do you know what happened?"

She considered telling them, but found her eyes drifting over to the woman Botan. Could she trust that woman? She knew she could trust the others – but what about her?

Botan seemed to read her thoughts. "I'll leave you all alone for a moment, shall I?"

As soon as the door slid shut behind her, Hanako sighed. "Even with amnesia you still don't like Botan?"

She shifted rather guiltily. After all, the woman had helped her – had helped heal her – but there was something in the way the woman looked at her that put her ill at ease. Something was off in those pink eyes… something like hatred, bitterness and longing…

"I don't dislike her, I just –"

"Get a bad feeling from her," Hanako, Rai, Taru, and Hina all finished with her.

When she stared at them, the four grinned sheepishly.

"You've told us that a lot," Hina admitted, blushing.

"I can tell."

"So, what were you going to say?" Haru pressed, coming over to stand beside her bed.

"Well, I think – and I can't be absolutely sure – but I think that I heard a voice inside of me when you were about to come at me."

She felt idiotic as soon as the words had left her mouth.

Hearing voices in her head? That was never a good thing, whether in demons or in humans.

But everyone around the bed seemed to take this completely in stride.

"What did the voice sound like?" Hanako asked.

"It was a woman's voice. But not mine. Not anyone I've heard before – or can ever remember hearing."

That wasn't entirely true, she realized belatedly. It had been the voice of her sixth sense! But while she was willing to tell them about hearing voices in her head, she wasn't about to tell them about that strange experience she had had with that mirror dream.

Not now, anyway.

She resolved to try and contact Alya later when she was alone.

But Yukina was speaking now. "Well, it might well have been someone you can't remember now. You didn't recognize me, Botan or Master Genkai. Maybe after a while you'll remember who that person."

Her aunt looked suddenly alarmed. "But don't try to remember anything, for my own peace of mind, alright?"

She smiled softly at her aunt. "Alright."

"What did the voice say?" Taru asked. "Word for word?"

She bit her lip and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before speaking. "It was something like: 'That's it. Pass out. I'm taking over.'"

There was a long moment of silence as everyone digested this.

Rai finally ended the silence. "Sounds like what my dad had to go through when he found out about his ancestral dad – the one I'm named for – he said that he heard this voice in his head telling him that he wasn't using his power right and the voice told him that he would show him how to use his power. He found out later that the voice had been his ancestral dad – Hey! Could it have been your dad?"

She blinked at him. "What?"

"You know. Could Hiei have – I don't know – reached inside you and taken over to get you through the fight?"

She shook her head. "My mind is too strong for him to do anything like that. He couldn't control me enough to get me through the fight. And he wouldn't do anything like that."

"You sure?"

She glared at him. "Yes."

He held up his hands. "Okay, okay! Put away the glare of doom!"

Haru spoke up. "Could you be possessed? That happens sometimes, doesn't it?"

Hanako nodded grimly. "Yes, but Niira's too powerful for that. Nothing could force itself into her mind with severely harming her body and mind…" the redhead trailed off.

Taru gasped. "Wait. Could that possibly be how you lost your memory? Something tried to force itself into your mind and your mind went on emergency shutdown?"

"Isn't Hiei technically possessed by the Black Dragon?" Rai suggested.

"Not really," she said. "He keeps a part of it within him at all times and when the time comes for him to use it, he uses a mixture of the dragon's energy and his own to lure it out. He then has to take mental control over it to make sure it doesn't kill him along with everything else."

They all stared at her as though she had spoken Chinese.

"How did you know that?" Yukina whispered.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "He is my father. Of course, I know things about him."

"When did he tell you about that?" Hanako asked softly, as though speaking to an invalid – which, she officially was.

She looked at them in bewilderment – at least until she heard herself answer. "When I was six."

She froze.

She remembered that.

She remembered.

Without a single trace of a headache.

"Are you alright?" Yukina demanded. "Does your head hurt at all?"

"No," she said in amazement, touching her head. "Not at all."

Haru frowned. "I thought you said it hurt when you remembered something."

"It does usually. But not now, I guess."

"That's a good sign, isn't it?" Rai asked, looking at her nervously.

"I don't know…" she said honestly.

"Well," Yukina interrupted them firmly. "We can discuss this later. I'm going to call Botan in and have her see to you and then you and the rest of us will all be going to bed."

"But Mom –"

"No buts, Haru," the woman said with surprising sternness. "Get ready to go. All of you."

With much grumbling, they began standing up as the apparition disappeared out the door.

"Good night, Niira," Taru said, coming up and patting her shoulder. "See you in the morning."

"Night," Haru muttered rather stiffly, shooting her a sharp, thoughtful look.

"Sweet dreams," Hina murmured, smiling at her.

"Good night," Hanako said, with a wave. "I'll come by tomorrow morning."

Rai waited until they had all left before turning to look at her."When you were asleep, you kept muttering something about 'stupid beer.'"

"Was I?"

"Yeah…" he eyed her suspiciously. "Was it about that night with the vodka?"

"You said it was vodka," she said calmly. "Not beer."

"It came from Demon World. I have no idea what the hell it was."

"Yet you had us all drink it with you."

"C'mon, nothing bad happened."

Yeah, sure.

"What was that?"

Oh shit. Had she said that aloud?

"What?" she asked. Please let him not have heard that!

"You said something."

"What did I say?" she looked at him, feigning confusion.

He stared at her. "Whatever."

He gripped her shoulder and shook gently. "Night."

"Good night."

As he left the room, Yukina, Genkai, and the woman they called Botan entered.

For the next fifteen minutes, she put up with being poked, prodded and asked over and over how she felt and if she was sure she was alright.

And then came the lecturing.

"You _knew_ you weren't at top form," Yukina said disapprovingly. "And you fought anyway."

"You blew past A class and went straight to the tip of S class," Genkai growled. "Do you have any idea how stupid that was?"

"I didn't mean to do any of that. It was just a reaction to Rai's power up."

But no matter what she said, the two women ignored this and continued scolding. She did her best to keep her temper in check and overlook the steady increase of pressure in her skull.

"That's enough, you two," Botan suddenly said firmly. "She needs to get some sleep."

The two women were herded out of the room and she found herself alone in the room with the strange woman.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The woman sighed and offered her a cup full of tea. "My name is Botan. I am a Spirit Guide and a longtime acquaintance of your father and the group."

"Are you and my father friends?"

"We have our moments," Botan said neutrally. "I know your father as a cunning warrior and a loyal comrade."

"What's this tea supposed to do?" she asked.

"It's meant to soothe headaches and sedate the drinker."

"You drugged me," she said detachedly.

"Yup," the Spirit Guide said flatly.

"Great," she said, feeling her mouth go dry and her headache fade to be replaced by drowsiness.

"Good night, little one," Botan said, pushing her back onto the pillows. "Don't worry, you're in good hands."

Her last coherent thought was that she had been sleeping way too much for the last few days.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Whatever had been in that tea had not only knocked her out, it had also suppressed any dreams or memories she might have had. So when she woke up the next morning, she felt more or less refreshed.

Bright morning sun streaked through a crack in the doorway, apparently someone had come in earlier and had forgotten to close the door properly. Oh well, it didn't matter now.

She threw off the blankets and swung her feet to the floor.

She stood up and stretched lazily. Her legs felt good and strong beneath her.

As cloth brushed her bare legs, she spared a glance to her clothes and found herself looking down at an oversized tunic with a stupid looking cartoon character on the front.

"Hmm… where are my clothes?"

Looking around, she found several towels piled on the bedside table. On top of the fluffy items, there was a scrap of paper.

"_You stink. Take a bath._

_Genkai."_

_Well, that's friendly._

Look who decided to show up.

_Oh, come on, don't be mad._

What did you do?

_I am sure I have no idea what you mean._

You did something after I passed out.

_I finished the fight. Now, can we discuss this after you've taken a shower?_

I don't know where the damn thing is.

_You spent most of your childhood here. Just trust yourself and go where your feet take you._

Fighting down a pout, she scooped up the towels and turned in a slow circle, trying to decide which direction to go. After a few seconds, her feet slowly began carrying her to an out of the way door she hadn't noticed before.

It was a bathroom.

_Told you._

Smug, annoying, pain in the ass voice in my head, she thought sourly, beginning to strip herself down.

With a relieved sigh, she noted that the bathroom was completely stocked.

The water was felt surprisingly wonderful on her skin, considering that she was a fire apparition. She spun leisurely, head directed to the showerhead. A dollop of sweet smelling shampoo went into her hair and she spent several minutes scrubbing and pulling at her scalp. A liberal handful of conditioner went next. Then came a thorough body scrubbing.

The whole time she was in the shower, she watched the dirt, old blood, and other unattractive bits of she-didn't-want-to-know slid off her body and swirled down the drain.

She spent a few extra unnecessary moments just letting the hot water bounce off her skin.

Damn it all to _hell_, this felt good.

With great reluctance she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Using the towels mercilessly, she dried her hair and body.

Wrapping the towel around her, she wiped a layer of condensation from the mirror over the sink.

The girl in the mirror looked slightly different than the girl she remembered seeing in the river – how long had that been? Her long hair was now bright silver, streaked with only a few stripes of black. Not to mention most of the bruises and cuts were now gone.

Otherwise, she was still the same young woman, beautiful and intelligent.

As she eyed her reflection thoughtfully, she couldn't help but thinking there was something missing. Something big.

The stone.

Her father's stone.

She nearly dropped her stone.

Oh _shit._

She tore out of the bathroom to be confronted with the old woman Genkai.

"I was wearing a necklace. Where did it go?"

The older woman stared at her. "You have a tear gem?"

"Have you seen it?" she demanded, in no mood for banter.

"What is with all the yelling?"

It was the cold woman Botan.

"I was wearing a necklace when I-"

"The tear gem?" Botan guessed, without batting eye. "I have it."

The Guide pulled it from her pocket and held it out to her.

She snatched it from the woman's outstretched hand and shoved it over her neck.

Yup, this was definitely her father's.

Something niggled her in the back on her mind. "Thank you," she said sincerely to Botan.

The pink eyed woman stared at her in surprise and a strange sort of…softness. "You are quite welcome, young lady."

She was given a new set of clothes, a hair brush, and her knife and sword.

The women left.

It took her only five minutes to get dressed and ten minutes to drag the brush through her wet, unruly hair.

She growled when she realized she didn't have a hair tie and had to settle for just brushing her hair back over her shoulders before heading outside.

The morning air smelled clean and fresh and it was just early enough that the sun had not yet dried the dew.

Taking a deep breath, she bolted from the building, starting at an easy lope and then pushing her speed to the limit. She reached a wall, bent her knees lazily and sprang herself into the air. Landing on the roof, she unhesitatingly fell into a random acrobatic routine, frowning slightly as her hair snapped into her face over and over.

Somersault with a double twist at the end.

Backflip with a reversal.

Push her jumping height to the max.

She backflipped off the roof and landed gracefully on her feet, her arms came up in a smooth flourish.

After so much tension and uncertainty, it felt indescribably good to stretch and push herself. She performed several more acrobatic moves before she was interrupted by a shout.

"Good morning, Niira!"

It was Taru, waving and hopping excitedly.

"Good morning," she responded in a far more sedate tone.

"Do you feel better?"

"I do. Where is everyone else?"

"Mom and Daddy are having a talk with Botan. I think Rai's taking a shower and I don't know where everyone else is."

"I see." She turned away from the girl and continued her limbering up.

"Any new memories?"

"Not really. But I do have a question."

"Really?" the girl asked with interest.

"Really. Who is that Botan woman?"

Taru bit her lip. "You noticed how she spoke to you, didn't you?"

"Hard not to notice," she replied dryly.

The halfling shuffled her feet. "Botan is jealous of your father. See, she was pregnant with a baby a long time ago – before I was born. But it turned out that the baby was a stillborn. Poor Botan lost her head completely.

"She wouldn't let anyone have the body and insisted on doing everything herself. She wouldn't even let Koenma do the paperwork. She didn't speak a word for two whole months. And just when it seemed that she was getting over it, your father showed up with you. She started saying that your father didn't deserve to have a child with all he had done. I guess she sees her lost baby as you – the baby would've been about your age anyway."

She winced. That explained a lot. "Who was the father?"

"She never said."

"Figures."

"Hey," Taru scolded. "Don't be like that. No one knows who your mother is, either."

"True,"' she admitted reluctantly.

"What's true?" Rai asked, walking toward them and pulling on a jacket.

"I was just telling Niira about Botan."

He grimaced. "Ah, the touchy subject."

"Why doesn't she treat you like that?" she wanted to know. "You're about my age?"

The boy shrugged. "I don't know. I guess it's because since you and her kid would've been almost exactly the same age. Only a few weeks apart. Every time she sees you, it's like a slap in the face."

"Well, aren't you sensitive!" Hanako laughed, coming up behind them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Botan."

At Taru's words, Hanako went sober. "Ah."

This brought up another question. "How old _am_ I?"

"You'll be seventeen on December 21," Rai told her.

"On the Winter Solstice," Hanako added softly. "The longest night of the year."

"That figures," she muttered, touching her hair. "Wonder if it was a full moon that night."

"You look different with your hair down," Haru commented, suddenly appearing at Hanako's elbow. He cocked his head. "Sort of like my mom."

She made sure her energy was just high enough to mask the signature of the stone. "Really?"

"Really."

This boy was quite obviously much smarter than his brother and sister – both of whom were approaching.

As if she didn't have enough to worry about.

"That's quite a compliment," she said neutrally.

"Not a compliment," he stated flatly. "It's the truth. You look like my mom."

"What are you guys talking about?" Hina asked.

"Hard to say," Rai said cheerfully. "First we were talking about Botan and why she doesn't like Nii and now Haru's saying how much Nii looks like your mom."

"That's so not true!" Daisuke yelled. "My mother is way prettier than she is!"

"Actually, Daisuke," his sister said softly, looking at her closely. "Niira does look quite a bit like Mother."

This was going too far. "Whatever. What happens now?"

Hanako came to her rescue. "I'm not sure. We're probably going to head down to the beach. Are you coming?"

She shrugged. "Maybe."

"You should definitely come!" Taru said immediately.

"Anyway," Rai said loudly. "Grandma wanted to see you, Nii."

He was lying.

"Okay." She followed him as he walked away from the group.

It was only once there were several walls between them and the others did he turn and face her.

"There was something you didn't tell us last night," he said bluntly.

"What are you talking about?"

He glared at her. "You can't lie to me, Nii. I know you too well for that."

She snorted. "Please. Everyone in this complex knows me better than I know myself."

"Niira, you're lying about something and I want to know what it is!"

She matched his glare, crossing her arms across her chest. "Well, aren't you the hypocrite?"

"You're not going to make this about me. You lied and now you're going to tell me what it was about."

"Am I?" she growled dangerously.

"Yeah, you are."

"And how do you know I'm lying? You might just be crazy."

He smiled humorlessly. "I know. I've been able to tell when you're lying for years."

She stuck her chin out challengingly. "And just when was I lying?"

"Last night when we asked you if you knew the voice in your head. You're hiding something."

"And you care because?"

"Because something's coming. And you have something to do with it."

_Just tell him already. All this arguing is giving me a headache._

Since when do you tell me what to do?

_Since he's right. Tell. Him. Now._

"The voice in my head seems to think that I should tell you."

His eyebrows went up.

Very high.

"Uh, maybe you should start from the beginning," he said cautiously.

"I agree."

And there were the adults. Everyone from Genkai to Yukina to Keiko.

"Busted."

**Don't worry. The action'll speed up soon. Just be patient!**

**As always, REVIEW!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Busted, indeed," Kurama agreed, looking at them sternly.

"So," Keiko said, eyes blazing, "_So_."

If it had been anyone else – _anyone else_ – she wouldn't have hesitated to say "So what?" But as it was Keiko with that look in her eyes, she couldn't seem to summon any smart comments.

"Hiya Mom!" Rai said with a huge phony grin.

"Didn't we _tell_ you to come to us with _anything _of importance?" Genkai hissed, clutching her stick as though she was seriously tempted to start swinging it at them.

Judging from the look on her face, she predicted it wouldn't be much longer until they were dodging the cane.

"Okay, guys," Yusuke said, crossing his arms in expectation. "Tell it. All of it."

Rai shuffled his feet. "Where should I start?"

Botan stepped forward, her pink eyes focused angrily on her. "Maybe Niira would be so kind as to tell us what she was lying about."

Okay, this was getting annoying. This woman kept switching her tones. One moment she was gentle and sweet…and motherly, and the next she was bitter, cold, and angry.

"Botan." Yukina's voice held a note of firmness that reminded her forcibly of her father. "This is not the time for that."

The Spirit Guide stared at her in surprise. "I'm…I'm sorry."

"Not to me, to Niira."

Botan stared at the ice apparition in dead shock.

She stole a look at her aunt and was awed. Her aunt's soft chin was firm and stubborn and her familiar crimson eyes gleamed in a manner reminiscent of her father.

"Uh, Niira, child, I-I'm… I'm sorry," the woman said in a soft voice.

"That's quite enough of that," Genkai interrupted.

"She right," Kurama agreed.

"Okay, kids," Kuwabara the elder said importantly, puffing out his chest. "You've gotta tell us everything you know!"

She just barely resisted the urge to slap the idiot upside the head. "Where do you want us to start?"

"Let's start with what you and Rai were arguing about," Genkai suggested.

She sighed deeply. "Ever since I woke up, I've been hearing this voice in my head. I saw her in my head while I was unconscious. She told me her name is Alya, apparently she's the one who fought off Rai when he went…crazy."

"Did you say Alya?" Kurama asked sharply.

"Yes."

"Alya is said to be the name of the Silver Dragon," the fox spirit said. "The dragon who reigns over the sky in Demon and Spirit World."

She stared at them in shock. Is that true?

_Is what true?_

You know what. Why are you being so evasive now?

_Drop it, Niira. Now._

No. Are you really –

Agony lanced through her skull and sent her reeling backwards, hands clutching her head and gasping. Hands grabbed her and held her up.

_MY ORIGIN AND IDENTITY ARE NONE OF YOUR CONDITION!! ENOUGH OF THIS YOU LITTLE WENCH!!!_

She whimpered and cradled her head.

She felt cool healing energy attempt to relieve the pain and fail miserably.

Stop! Now!

Alya sounded rather hysterical, _No! You have no right to ask these things! I saved your life! I helped you!_

I'm not asking you to give me your firstborn! I just want to know if you're –

_No! Shut up!! That's it! You're on your own!_

The pain vanished as suddenly as it had started and she was left slumped over on the ground, palms flat against her eyes. "She didn't like me asking her questions."

"Nii? Are you okay?" Rai asked. He was the one holding her up.

The silence and absence of aching in her head made her feel strangely empty. She hadn't been really aware of the other presence in her head until it had vanished. Now she felt hollow.

"Nii?"

"I'm alright," she said quickly, trying to stand up.

Her legs trembled rather annoyingly beneath her. It appeared her latest delving into pain hadn't done much for her motor functions.

It didn't help that Rai's hands on her arms were warm and definitely making her skin tingle.

"I can stand on my own," she snapped at him.

He released his grip and she nearly fell over.

"Sure you can."

She gritted her teeth. She hated feeling so weak.

"Maybe it would be best if we could talk inside," Kurama suggested, his voice carefully controlled.

"Very well," Genkai said, giving a weary nod. "We'll talk in here."

The old woman strode over and opened a door in leading to a secluded room.

She tried to take a step only to find her traitorous legs refused to hold her up.

Her mood worsened when Rai waved off help from the men and slipped his arms around her shoulders and under her knees. She thought she was ready to fry something as he carried her – _carried her_ – across the grass and into the room.

"When I can stand up you are so going to die."

He grinned. "She speaks! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that I had to carry you. Like a baby."

Oh yes, she was going to kill this idiot.

As soon as she could stand upright.

And walk.

He set her down and took a seat beside her.

Genkai, Yukina, Keiko, and Shizuru bent over her, asking about her welfare and condition, with Botan hovering uncertainly in the background. When they were satisfied, Yukina and Keiko left to go round up their children.

Then the questions began.

"What was that all about?" Yusuke demanded.

"I tried to ask Alya if she is the Silver Dragon, but she got mad and started playing with a sledgehammer inside my head."

"You don't know if the presence in your head is the Silver Dragon or not?" Kuwabara asked rather snidely.

"She doesn't exactly show herself as a silver dragon," she snapped.

"What does she appear to you as?" Shizuru inquired.

"As a woman with silver hair and blue eyes."

"No animalistic qualities?" Botan asked.

"Couldn't tell."

"How could you not tell?" the woman insisted.

"She was in a mirror."

Botan now looked as though she was caught between looking alarmed and skeptical. Judging by the look on the Guide's face, the woman was now doubting her sanity.

"A self mirror?" Genkai gasped.

"Yeah."

"What did you see in the mirror?"

She blinked at the older human's sudden urgency. "I saw earlier versions of myself and then I saw Alya."

Yusuke looked blank. "Wait, what's a self mirror?"

Kurama explained, "It is a mental device in every person's mind that allows them to see themselves as they really are. It shows one's past and present self and in more powerful subjects, it can also show his or her future – or at least possible futures."

The fox spirit looked straight at her. "In some cases it is able to discern the different spirits encased in a person's body."

"Does that mean that Alya-thing is possessing her?" Yusuke wanted to know.

"Not necessarily. It could be that it is a benign spirit that only resides in her as a result of a technique, such as the Silver Dragon."

"What else do you know of the Silver Dragon?" she asked. "The history or anything like that?"

To everyone's surprise, it was Botan who spoke up. "I know something of it. There are actually several legends about it in Spirit World."

"What do the legends say?" Shizuru finally joined the conversation.

The Guide settled herself more comfortably on the floor and began. "They say that in the very beginning, when Spirit World, Human World, Demon World, and the Netherworld were yet to be sealed off from each other, different people were able to cross into the different worlds. It came to pass that a demon and a wind spirit met and fell in love.

"However, the Sprit and Demon World were on the brink of war and they were not able to be together. They were forced to meet in secret and eventually they had a child together. It was a beautiful girl who was half spirit, half demon and extremely powerful. She stayed with her mother and grew up among the wind spirits.

"She learned to fly from her mother and she learned to fight from the white cloud dragons in Spirit World. When she was old enough, she joined the Spirit World army and began preparing to fight the demons.

"When her mother found out about this, she tried to convince her otherwise, but the girl would not listen. She flew off with the army to war. Her mother, however, had kept in contact with the girl's father and knew that it was the girl's father that was leading the demon army. Fearing for her daughter and her mate, the spirit went after the army.

"The battle was a disaster for both sides. The girl made her mother and comrades proud, proving herself a ferocious warrior. At the end of the battle, she found herself fighting another demon who was as brutal a fighter as she. Though it appeared to be a stalemate, neither fighter would back down.

"Just as they moved in to deliver the final blow, strikes that probably would have killed them both and the many caught in the crossfire, a woman jumped between them. It was her mother.

"Both backed away from the brave woman. The daughter was shocked when she saw her own mother passionately embrace the enemy soldier. The woman explained to her daughter that her formidable opponent was in fact her father.

"Before the daughter could say anything, the general of the Spirit World army descended upon the three and made an open attack. The girl and her parents disappeared in a powerful energy blast.

"Several days later, the girl awoke in the middle of the battlefield and found the dead bodies of her parents sprawled over her, protecting her. She was horrified. As she stared at the still bodies, she swore revenge on the general who had killed her parents.

"For many days she lay beneath the bodies of her parents until several Cloud Dragons came upon her and rescued her. They nursed her back to health and taught her many of their ways. She grew so much like them that she was able to take on their form. However, she proved her strange origin by the color of her scales which were silver instead as the average blue and white.

"After many years of learning their skills, she finally left to confront the general. The battle was long and terrible but she was able to defeat him and avenge her parents. Having defeated him, she returned to the Cloud Dragons who were furious at her for using the powers they had given her for revenge. They tried to strip her of her powers but found her too strong, and instead cast her out.

"Now she is said to guard and reign over the skies in Spirit and Demon World."

There was a long silence as everyone digested this.

"Does the legend mention if she ever gives her power to other warriors?" she asked.

Botan turned thoughtful eyes on her. "Well, some legends compare her to the Black Dragon in that she does sometimes lend her power to warriors she deems worthy."

"So, assuming Alya is the Silver Dragon, what does that have to do with us?" Yusuke wondered.

Genkai bit her lip. "I've been sensing a dark presence approaching us for some time, but it has never been as clear as it is now."

"What kind of a darkness?"

The old human was silent.

Finally: "I don't know. But it's a big one."

"Can you hear…Alya at the moment?" Kurama asked.

She took a deep breath and listened. She listened to the deepest parts of her mind and soul…

And heard only silence.

"No." A smirk. "She's not speaking to me."

"Why not?" Rai asked.

"She's pissed that I kept asking her so many questions."

He stared at her. "That's why she gave you a mini-seizure? Talk about a tantrum!"

The tense silence was broken by burst of laughter.

"You're such an idiot, Rai!" his father chortled.

Even she couldn't hold back a chuckle.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"So now what do we do?"

Genkai's voice was grim. "I'm going to try and draw out Niira's Silver Dragon."

"No." She was completely adamant about this. "That's out of the question. Even if it is the Silver Dragon – which it might not be – she won't be happy about this. I don't know what she'll do… And if she gets really violent, I don't know what she'll do."

The old psychic didn't look the slightest bit concerned. "I've lived a long time. It won't matter."

She scowled. "Well I do. And I say no."

The old woman wasn't moved. "I say yes."

"No." She felt a strange sort of prickliness on her skin.

Genkai drew sharply away. "Alright! Put that power of yours away! Your dragon can stay in hiding!"

She took a deep breath and the tickly feeling vanished.

"Let's just take it easy and let things happen as they may," Kurama said. "We will accomplish nothing by worrying and nagging."

"We can't just let down our guard!" Botan objected.

"I never said let them take us by surprise," Kurama countered smoothly. "I merely suggested that we merely let things come as they may as we keep our eyes open. It will do us no good to go chasing around a mysterious darkness."

There was an immediate outburst of arguing.

"Shut up!" Rai yelled.

Silence fell like a guillotine.

"This isn't helping. It's stupid for us to argue like this! For what it's worth, I agree with Kurama. It won't do shit for us to freak out and tire ourselves out by trying to stuff some last minute training into an unknown amount of time!"

"He's right," she chimed in. "In the meantime, we should actually try and do something constructive like contacting my father to see if he can locate this darkness with his Jagan eye."

The adults stared at the two teenagers in something akin to shock.

"They're right," Yusuke admitted. "Surprisingly," he added, his eyes dancing with good nature.

"Thanks a lot, Dad," Rai commented dryly.

"Not a problem. Now let's just continue with our day, but-" the former Spirit Detective's voice went hard, "-no going off by yourself and no fighting. Got it?"

They nodded and were sent out of the room to let the 'grown-ups' talk.

"Well," Rai said lightly. "That was an incredible waste of time."

"Tell me about it," she grumbled. "What was that whole 'busted' thing about?"

He grinned sheepishly. "See, me and Dad have this agreement. I tell him everything; almost everybody says it's unnatural for a guy to tell his dad so much but whatever. Hell, my dad knows about the time we broke into Grandma's liquor cabinet and what happened afterwards."

Her heart seemed to constrict in her chest. "Is that so?"

"Yup," he said, shooting her a look from beneath his eyebrows. "I told him everything."

"Can't have been that much," she commented. "You said yourself that you can't remember what happened that night."

"Well, I told him everything I remembered. He took it pretty well considering."

"Considering what?" she asked as they met up with Yukina, Keiko and the other kids.

"Considering he's my dad and supposed to be on the side of no over underage drinking."

"_What about underage drinking?!"_ Keiko shrieked, appearing at his elbow.

"Don't worry about it, Honey!" Yusuke's voice rang out.

The woman glared darkly in the direction of her husband, but left the subject alone.

She and the other younger warriors were ordered to stay out of the room the adults were using for a conference and ordered not – under threat of Kuwabara the Elder's rendition of the song 'You Are the Wind Beneath My Winds' – to eavesdrop. And though she had no memory of what that sounded like, her subconscious seemed to definitely have a memory of it and was carefully edging her feet away from the room.

The others seemed to have the same idea.

"You remember Dad's singing, huh?" Haru asked, noticing her retreat from the doors.

"Not really, I just know it's something I don't want to hear."

"Good thinking, Dad's singing voice sounds like a cat in a blender set on puree."

"I'll take your word for it."

"So what did Genkai want to talk to you guys about?" Hiroki asked.

One look at his face told her that he hadn't one cent of Rai's lie.

"She told us the origin of the Silver Dragon," Rai offered.

"Really?" Hanako's look said she hadn't believed their lie, either.

Her companion ignored their skepticism and began to retell the story. In a moment, he had them all hanging on his every word.

When he was finished, there was an immediate burst of speculation on how the Silver Dragon could factor into the situation.

"What else did you guys talk about?"

"That was about it," she didn't feel guilty about keeping the fact that the voice in her head might in fact be the Silver Dragon from Hanako or any of the others. It felt like something that shouldn't be revealed to too many people.

It just didn't feel right to tell the redhead.

So she didn't.

She felt a profound sense of relief when Rai showed no sign of divulging anymore information. As the others turned away to continue their discussion, he caught her eye and winked.

It felt as though a wave of lava was swarming in her stomach.

It felt hot and rather aching.

But extremely nice.

She scowled darkly at him.

Damn Raizen.

Damn stomach.

Damn hot, aching, nice feeling.

She turned from him and stalked away.

"Hey, hey!" he yelled suddenly. "We're not supposed to go off by ourselves!"

She didn't turn around. "I'm not alone in here, remember?" She placed a finger to her temple.

"A disembodied voice in your head doesn't count as company!" he said exasperated.

She looked at him over her shoulder. "I can take care of myself."

He looked about ready to strangle her. "Don't you even _think_ about it!"

His eyes caught hers as he tried to stare her down.

That was stupid. He had never been able to outstare her –

Brown on red.

The lava in her stomach started bubbling uncontrollably.

She had the oddest urge to cross her legs.

Disgusting.

Damn him to hell.

She wrenched her eyes away from his and started to walk away.

"Niira!"

She had already sprung away.

He was immediately on her heels.

Hmph. Hadn't he learned from all those races from the time they were kids that he just couldn't outrun her? She sped up with an easy stretch of her legs, noting the sudden increase of pursuers.

Seemed the others – and the adults, there were the energy signatures of Yusuke and Kurama – had noticed she had taken off.

No matter.

She leapt up into the branches of a tree and bounded from branch to branch; from the corner of her eye she saw the trees merging into green blurs.

The energy signatures were falling further and further behind. She tilted her head to one side, feeling each of the energy signatures that had been tailing her slow down – and then speed up.

And that's when she felt it.

The darkness.

The hair on the back of her neck sprang to attention.

It was coming closer.

"Shit. I am so screwed."

**Ah, teen angst leads our fair heroine into a messy situation. Next chapter will have plenty of action and some explanations! Not too many though.**

**A FAIR WARNING TO YOU ALL. UNTIL I GET 10 REVIEWS I WILL NOT UPDATE. THE NEXT CHAPTER CAN SIT ON MY HARDDRIVE FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY. AND THE CHAPTER AFTER THAT. WHICH WILL BE EVEN MORE EPIC.**

**SO REVIEW!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

She forced down panic and carefully spread out her power to find where the darkness was coming from…

There! To her right!

And, oh shit…

Nope, better make that quadruple shit.

Whatever this thing was, it was nasty, spoiling for a fight, and on the upper half of the S class. It was also heading straight for her.

Okay – options:

Fight.

Hide.

Run.

Regroup with the others.

Well, seeing as she didn't have a complete death wish, she had no wish to try and engage that thing in battle. It had to be twice as powerful as herself and it was positively _radiating_ bloodlust.

She was not going to hide. Abso-freakin'-lutely _not_. She hadn't spent years training and learning four dozen fighting styles to hide like a child.

She didn't want to run away… unless it was to lure the thing to a battlefield where she would have the advantage. But she didn't quite know _where_ she would have the advantage. Was she a better warrior in a forest setting? Or would she be better suited for a battle on sand at the beach?

She couldn't remember.

Joy.

As she continued to run, she realized something immensely disturbing.

It was following her.

She changed direction.

It compensated.

Did it just want her?

Or was it searching for prey and had simply picked her out as alone and therefore an easier meal?

In any case, running didn't seem to be much of an option as it seemed to be just as fast as herself. And not just as fast. Faster. It was _overtaking_ her.

That was shocking in and of itself.

How long had it been since she had been outrun?

She had finally surpassed her father in speed six months ago –

OW.

She missed her next foothold and had to perform a body twist in midair to avoid crashing into several sturdy looking branches. She ended up falling about four stories and landing roughly on the ground; thankfully her demonic bones were more than strong enough to hold up to fifty feet of sheer dropping.

And then there was grouping with the others. On the surface it seemed like a decent plan, but there was always the off chance that the thing – whatever it was – only wanted her. If she could get close enough to the thing, she might be able to kill it herself.

There were so many holes in that plan that it was almost laughable but she had no wish to face Rai and admit she had been wrong.

No way in hell.

But she could practically hear her father's lecture, "Is your pride worth dying for?"

Well, yes, actually.

When it was Raizen?

Most definitely yes.

That meant…

Shit.

She was going to fight.

As she turned to face the direction of the darkness, she decided that if she ever made it out of this alive – which she doubted very much – she would admit to Rai that she was wrong.

Thank God she was going to die.

The source of the darkness was only a few yards away, just beyond her line of sight. She could already see the outline of her enemy's power – jet black and lightening quick.

Her blood ran cold. She recognized that energy signature.

Pain lanced through her skull.

"_Come, Niira," her father ordered, holding out his hand to her._

_She slipped her tiny four year old hand into his larger calloused one. _

_He led her through the dark hallways of the Demon World palace, through the shadows, and through the mobs of visitors. Her fingers tightened in his grip and he reciprocated gently. He carefully kept his pace measured to allow his daughter's shorter legs to keep up._

_Together, father and daughter made their way to the throne room of the palace._

_The king sat straight and proud on his simple throne. He stood when they entered. "Hiei. Thank you for coming."_

_The king was a red skinned demon with stark white hair and curving demonic horns that sprouted at his temples and came around to meet in the front like a strange crown. He was dressed in a traditional plain black kimono and no ornamentation. _

_He stepped down from his dais and strode over to them. "I have a request to make of you. Would you be willing to deal with a revolt that is rising in the northern sector? Mukuro tells me you have experience with that region. It is a relatively small force of D class demons."_

"_If it's so small, why do you need me?" her father asked coldly._

"_I need to project an image of control," the king said. "Sending in a single demon makes it seem as though my forces are stronger. With you I know the chance of their extermination is completely assured. Will you do it?"_

_King and swordsman stared each other down. _

_After a long moment, the king turned his black eyes away from the sharp red ones and looked at her instead._

_She lifted her chin and stared right back at him, refusing to show any fear or weakness. The king wasn't scary at all – his energy was dark red and swirled around him like blood going down a drain. That energy was not so very scary. Black energy was what you needed to watch out for._

_Her father's grip on her hand tightened so suddenly and brutally that she almost whimpered. As it was, she wriggled her fingers in protest and he thankfully slackened his hold._

"_With all due respect, My Lord," came a deep growl from the shadows, "But I believe that such matters are my responsibility. I am your Internal Security authority, am I not?"_

_She turned to look at the source of the voice…_

_And promptly pressed herself to her father's leg._

"What color is his energy?" _Hiei demanded telepathically._

"Black lightening," _she answered, clutching his hand as though it was a lifeline._ "It's so dark. So cold."

"Be strong, little one," _his hand tightened reassuringly._ "We'll be leaving soon."

_To the king, he said, "I accept your offer. I will leave to deal with your problem precisely at dawn tomorrow."_

"_So late?" hissed the Internal Security authority. "I am able to set out immediately."_

_The Internal Security authority stepped into the fire light of the main chamber. At least six and half feet tall, it was a demon with black skin and grey, shiny scales set like a suit of armor around his body. His eyes were black like the king's, but unlike the king, this one's eyes did not reflect the light._

_Like black holes._

_It was staring unblinkingly at the king as it spoke._

_The king of Demon World averted his eyes and shuddered lightly._

_She was beginning to feel a bit sick._

_It turned its gaze on her father._

_Her father didn't flinch or avoid his stare. His shoulders tensed and his hand tightened slightly around hers. _

_Now she was definitely sick._

_The black eyes focused on her._

_She fought to keep from vomiting._

_Those black eyes were looking straight through her…everything._

_Her father's hand tightened viciously around her own. Despite the almost overpowering urge to run and hide, she lifted up her chin and stared back._

_The apple she had eaten right before they had entered the palace was threatening to show itself the door and it felt as though her father was attempting to severe her hand from her wrist by intense squeezing. But she wasn't going to back down. _

_She wasn't._

_She was four._

_Almost grown up._

_Grownups didn't back down._

_Grownups didn't get scared._

_Look at her dad._

_Her dad never got scared._

_Ever._

_And so she stared into the terrifyingly empty black eyes._

"_Well, Hiei," it said, taking a leisurely step towards them. "I must say, your daughter is quite a spitfire. But that's to be expected, I suppose._

"_What's your name, pretty one?" it asked._

_She could feel her bones groaning against her father's vicious clutching and jiggled her hand in protest. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."_

_It laughed. The hair on the back of her neck – already standing up – tingled unpleasantly. _

"_What if I told you my name? That wouldn't make me a stranger anymore, would it?"_

_She stayed silent._

"_My name is Kain, it is a great pleasure to meet you -?" It extended a big, taloned hand._

_She didn't touch it._

_She didn't speak._

"_Come now, pretty one… tell me your name."_

"_Enough." Her father's voice was cold and steely._

"_Her name."_

"_Is none of your concern."_

_It growled and started towards Hiei. "You arrogant –"_

"_ENOUGH," the king snapped, stepping towards them sharply. "Kain, leave the child alone. Hiei, if you would be so kind as to leave the girl somewhere and be gone by dawn tomorrow. Now both of you, leave me. Now."_

She was on her knees with the thing standing not fifty yards away.

She tried to stand, trying to push the pain to the back of her mind.

She failed.

He got closer.

His black eyes were fixed on her.

Argh!

She was on her hands and knees, head hanging before it.

_She jumped down from the tree and impatiently blew at the messy bangs that were hanging disobediently into her eyes. Reaching her arms up toward the sky, she arched her back, wincing slightly as she heard a series of staccato pops. Finishing that, she went through a series of stretches, bending and twisting in every way possible._

_She was not in a good mood._

_Not at all._

_It had been three days since Shizuru had taken her and her father to that torture facility she called Dillards to get the strange clothing items the woman had called bras._

_They were itchy and squeezed in all the worst places. Unfortunately, when she had tried to train without wearing one she had put herself into immense discomfort. Worst of all, they made the annoying lumps in her chest seem bigger and higher – something that men apparently favored._

_She frowned and tugged at one of the straps._

_Damn bra._

_Damn puberty._

"_Hello, my Pretty One." _

_Her blood turned to ice._

_It was HIM._

_IT._

_Oh shit._

_Shitshitshitshitshit!_

_She didn't let her fingers freeze in mid motion, nor did she show any fear at all. Even though every instinct in her body was screaming to run and not stop running until there were at least three or four worlds between them. "Hello Kain."_

_It came closer to her. "I must say, you have grown into quite the lovely young woman. Your father must be proud."_

_Her voice incredibly didn't shake. "You'd have to ask him."_

_It got closer. "I don't have to ask him. It's clear from the way he looks at you that he is proud."_

_She was not going to show an ounce of fear. _

_Just relax._

_There was now only an arm's reach between them._

_It spoke again. "You know, I've had my eye on you for quite some time. Ever since your father brought you in to see the king all those years ago. Do you remember?"_

_Don't look at him. Don't look at him._

_The black lightening was reaching out to touch her._

"_Can't say I do."_

"_Come now, Pretty One." It's voice was going rather cold. "I know you're lying. I can see it in your mind."_

_She kept her face carefully blank as she turned to look at him. _

_Her stomach lurched and started making bids for her throat._

"_I'm afraid I don't understand."_

_Good. That sounded convincing._

_It didn't seem to be buying it. "I am a telepath, Pretty One. I see and control others' minds. And your mind reeks of dishonesty. You are lying."_

"_I have no reason to tell you the truth."_

"_Then I shall tell you a truth." It leaned close to her. "You will be mine. My mate. I will have you. In every way a man holds what is his."_

She moaned, palms pressed to her temples.

Let me die!

Before he gets his hands on me!

"_Watch your back, Niira," her father told her solemnly. "Kain has marked you as his own. He'll start forcing the issue."_

_She tucked the message scroll into her waist pouch. "Let him try. I'm no one's sex toy."_

"_Niira!" His hand landed on her arm, a clear demand for her attention. "Kain is strong. The strongest demon in a century. Only one of the three demon kings was able to stand against him and force him into the bowels of Demon World. Neither you nor I am a match for him."_

_She had never seen her father so serious. "Don't tempt him. Don't speak to him without cause. STAY _AWAY_ FROM HIM."_

How could she have forgotten?

_She walked out of the courtyard of the Demon World palace, reveling in the chance to get out of the cramped palace._

Watch yourself, little one! _Alya warned her sharply._

"_Hello, Pretty One."_

_There It was._

"_Kain." She greeted with a curt nod._

"_You are a beautiful woman." It's black eyes raked over her shamelessly. _

"_Thank you." She kept up her steady pace, walking past It._

Don't take your eyes off that bastard, you little fool!

_A big, clawed hand settled on her arm._

_She nearly screamed outright as the black lightening energy snaked possessively over her skin._

Be calm, child. I'm here with you.

"_I'm glad you're mine."_

"_Let me go."_

_It's voice went dangerous. "You are mine. Therefore I may do with you as I wish. If I say disrobe in front of me and pleasure me in front of the army you will do it."_

_A surge of sharp anger washed over her, banishing her fear. "I am no one's plaything."_

"_You are a woman. Know your place."_

"_I am a warrior like my father."_

"_He has corrupted you!"_

"_Hardly. He made me strong."_

"_You are mine!" It screeched in her face, spraying her with rancid spittle._

_She broke his painful grip. "Think again."_

_Alya?_

I am here. Don't worry about that monster, just walk away.

_She left It standing there looking enraged._

_As she entered the edges of the forest of Demon World, she could hear him screaming: "You are a woman. Know your place! Damn your father, he has taught you to be disobedient! You will learn from me now, do you hear me! I will erase everything he taught you! You will be mine!"_

She felt the blackness invading her vision, pushing back her consciousness.

She was going to pass out.

Right in front of It.

"Are you ready, Pretty One?" It hissed, crouching down beside her. "It's almost time for us to bind ourselves together. And then you will be mine forever."

Fury roared through her veins, shoving back the sickness and darkness and hauling her to her feet.

She snarled out words she had heard her father say once. Words Yukina – meek and mild though her aunt was – would have washed her mouth out for.

It's tone changed at once and it lunged towards her. "How dare you say such things to me you little bitch –"

"Niira!"

She had never been so happy to see Raizen and the rest of those idiots.

It didn't look the slightest bit upset or worried. It did however look annoyed. "A demon and his mate are left alone on their wedding night."

A sickly green barrier sank between her and the shining knights. Both she and the others dove for the barrier.

Too late.

It slammed between them like a steel wall.

"Niira!"

Rai.

RAI.

He was standing on her side of the wall.

Looking incensed.

"_I am going to kill you!"_

She fought the urge to throw her arms around him. "You may not have to."

It was then that Rai saw It standing behind her, looking extremely put out.

His words reflected her earlier sentiments. "Oh fu-"

**Okay. So I lied. **

**Next chapter we'll get into the juicy fighting. Hi-Yah!**

**Review please! Oh yeah, hope you had a great Turkey Day!**


	20. Chapter 20

**OUCH! Writing bug bit me last night. Can you say no sleep? Therefore I blame all mistakes and inconsistances on lack of sleep!**

**Anyway, since I'm feeling nice:**

Chapter 20

"-ck."

"My thoughts exactly," she agreed wholeheartedly.

"Who the hell are you?" Rai demanded, clenching his fists.

It was definitely pissed off. "I am Lord of the Bowels of Demon World."

"I thought there was just the one king," Rai said confused. "Whatsisname… Kenta?"

"He was overthrown a year ago," she informed impatiently. "Now it's Taichi. Can't you keep track of the kings?"

"No," he said sharply in indignation. "They change like crazy."

He turned his attention to It. "What the hell are you doing here?"

It turned its dead eyes on her. "Retrieving my mate."

Rai whipped around to face her. "Since when have you been married?"

"I'm not married. And I'm definitely not mated to anyone. Especially not to this guy."

The half-demon sighed deeply. "Thank God, and here I thought I was going to have to apologize for making out with you that night we both got drunk."

The two were thrown off their feet by a sudden surge of energy.

"WHAT!?" It screamed. "YOU DID _WHAT_ TO MY MATE?"

It felt as though a burning weight was being pressed down onto her body, pushing her harder and harder into the dirt.

"Whoa! She just said she isn't your mate! What the hell is your problem?!" Rai howled, face down in the earth.

"You are such an idiot," she gritted out. "He wants me to be his sex toy and isn't taking no as an answer."

Rai's brown eyes went strangely cold. "It's not nice to try and force yourself on an unwilling person."

It laughed derisively. "You little fool! Women aren't people! They're tools and objects to be used, owned, and enjoyed!"

"That's bullshit," she growled, voice shaking with pure fury.

"It's the truth," It said matter-of-factly. "I want you. I am the strongest. Therefore I shall have you."

"I don't think so."

It's face contorted in fury. "I didn't give you permission to think! Stay silent!"

Rai laughed darkly. "Good luck with that."

He glanced at her and winked. "Together this time?"

"Just this time. Until It's dealt with."

They took deep breaths.

She closed her eyes and reached inside herself. She quickly reached the mental wall separating herself from her power. Oh, she wasn't having this! She wasn't standing here like some helpless maiden to be saved in a stupid human fairytale.

At her command, the walls fell and her latent power flowed into her veins like boiling lava.

She immediately found she could stand and upon leaping to her feet discovered she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Rai.

He shot her a look. "On the count of three?"

She shot him a look. "You can actually count that high?"

He grinned. "I can actually."

"NO!" It roared, charging them. "DON'T SPEAK TO HER! I FORBID IT!"

Rai smirked and leapt back. "I try not to pay attention to authority."

"Why are you still talking?" she demanded, backflipping onto a tree branch.

He laughed. "What else is there to do?"

She growled. "How about beating this bastard?"

"Oh," he said as though that thought was something that had never occurred to him. "I guess there is that."

He took up his trademark pose, finger extended. "Spirit Gun!"

It took the full brunt of the blast and grunted in irritation. It grunted again as her sword bit into It's torso, both arms and legs, and neck.

The two retreated a few steps away just in time as two huge energy blasts exploded where they had been seconds ago.

It looked pissed.

Really pissed.

"This is ceasing to be amusing, Pretty One. I can forgive your little transgression for a few extra favors in the bedroom." It leered unpleasantly. "If you continue this pointless struggle, I will kill your little friend, and then I will force you to pleasure me before you die."

She scoffed. "How about…not?"

It's face twisted. "There is no third choice."

"How 'bout we make one?" Rai suggested, raising his hands up to fire again. He turned his head to face her. "I'm still pissed at you by the way."

"Can we discuss that later?" She ducked a vicious swipe and slashed viciously at their opponent's arm.

"ENOUGH!"

Something akin to a bomb went off over their heads and they were thrown backwards.

She heard a sickening crack and found herself staggering drunkenly to her feet, away from a tree that seemed to have a fresh dent on it.

"Niira?"

It was Rai.

He had blood trickling down the side of his face and was leaning heavily on another tree.

Even though they couldn't be more than fifteen feet apart, it sounded as though his voice was coming from a great distance away.

His eyes looked extremely strange. "Niira? Can you hear me?"

"SHUT UP! STOP TALKING TO HER! HOW DARE YOU SPEAK HER NAME! HOW DO YOU KNOW HER NAME?!"

Rai stared up at the advancing demon. "She told me."

He smirked. "What? You mean she didn't tell you her name? Hmmm… What does that tell us?"

It screamed and the tree Rai had been leaning against exploded.

There was a yell, a nauseating smell of burning flesh, then silence.

Rai's familiar energy was gone.

There was no flicker of navy or gold.

The daze in her head cleared abruptly and she strode purposefully towards It. "You killed him."

Warm wetness was trickling through her hair and down the nape of her neck, under her shirt.

Something cold and numbing swept through her, deadening her to all sensations of pain or discomfort. She was mad.

She almost laughed. That was like saying the sun was warm.

Underestimation to the point of hilarity.

It bared It's yellow fangs. "I merely rid myself of competition."

She looked at him impassively. "Wrong. All you've managed to do is piss me off."

It snarled. "Such language. Tell me, Pretty One, what is your name?"

She didn't break stride. "None of your business, bastard."

It lunged, gnashing It's teeth like a rabid animal. "YOU TOLD THAT MONGREL YOUR NAME! TELL ME!"

This guy was most definitely unbalanced. As if there had been any doubt about that.

She leapt back to avoid Its questing fingers and swiftly circled around the demon to find a good spot to launch her attack.

Because this guy was going to die.

"No."

There was a long moment of tense silence.

And then they were going at it.

It threw wild punches that were as lightening quick as they were powerful. She dodged, pushing her training and experience to the limit, and returned the attacks with as much ferocity as she could muster. She was only vaguely aware of the others on the other side of the barrier trying to break through to help her.

But she didn't want help. She wanted no help as she tore this thing's throat out and reduced It to nothing but an ashy mark in the dirt.

She summoned human flames to lick along her arms as she danced away and began attacking from another angle. It blocked her, hissing sharply as the flames clung to Its skin stubbornly, having abandoned flickering harmlessly on her limbs in favor of scorching Its body. With speed that was eyeblurring even to her, It gripped her arms mercilessly.

"You have a violent idea of foreplay, Pretty One."

She wrenched Its arms apart and somersaulted, smashing in Its chin with her heels. It immediately let go of her and grasped Its jaw just as Hiroki had when she had first tested it on him. Luckily all the teeth she had knocked out were baby teeth and he had quickly forgiven her after something called the 'Tooth Fairy' paid him a visit.

However, this thing recovered much quicker than Hiro had. Baring bloodstained teeth, It charged her and refused to be shaken as she dodged again and again. She bent her knees a bit more and sent herself sailing up to land on a tree and immediately allowed herself to fall off it backwards, arms spread, as It rocketed upwards towards her.

She landed on her hands under the tree as the leaves of the tree disturbed by the first few moves of their fight finally floated to the ground. As soon as the creature hit the ground, she expertly dropped to her elbows and smashed at Its knees, reveling in the sounds of agonizing breaking of knee caps.

Pushing her speed past its limit, she swiftly put distance between them, snatching up her sword along the way.

And felt her back hit something solid.

It.

And looking beyond angry. Beyond enraged.

Beyond any words.

It grabbed her around the throat.

And tightened.

She couldn't breathe.

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit…

It slammed her into a tree and pressed Itself up against her, too close for her to maneuver and attempted to kiss her.

Oh _hell_ no.

She repeated the move that had made her father back up and slammed her skull against Its and was rewarded with a loud crack and the feel of a nose smashing against her forehead.

It roared and drew back for a moment, before tightening Its grip even more and grabbing her arms and dragging them over her head. "You're extremely lucky that I prefer screwing live bodies to dead ones."

She struggled furiously as It shoved Its lips over hers. She bit down.

Hard.

The metal taste of blood filled her mouth and she was rewarded with Its hand tightening menacingly.

She could no longer breathe or concentrate enough to summon flames.

She was in serious trouble.

Just as blackness was beginning to creep up on her vision, two things happened simultaneously.

Gold and navy energy rose around them like flames at the same time that a tattooed hand threw them apart.

For the second time in less than thirty minutes her head smashed into something.

**Ah, gotta love when the good guy rises from the dead to defend his girlfriend.**

**Review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Throws aside Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, and homework and gasps for air.**

**I LIVE!!!!!!!**

**Here's your new chapter.**

Chapter 21

She blinked twice and sat up.

White fog drifted lazily around her, cloaking an invisible floor.

She stood up and looked around. There was nothing but white fog and matching whiteness in every direction, stretching into infinity.

She turned in a slow circle, straining to see anything other than pristine nothingness.

Nope, _nada_.

It suddenly occurred to her that the fog was very cold. She jammed her hands into her pockets and was shocked to find that she didn't have any.

She was stark naked.

Where the hell are my clothes? She thought frantically to herself, covering her exposed chest with her arms. Did that bastard rape me or something?

No, she felt fine. Just cold. And naked.

She wished she had her clothes.

Immediately the fog in front of her parted to reveal a smooth white and brown marble floor and a familiar set of clothes.

After a moment of hesitation, she bent and picked up the surprisingly warm garments. It was too cold to be overly suspicious of dry clothes.

Once she had taken the last article of clothing – her right boot – from the floor, the fog rushed to fill the empty bit of marble.

Even with the clothes on she was still cold. She hunched her shoulders and stuck her stiff hands into her pockets.

"Wish I had a jacket," she mumbled.

The tendrils of mist separated again and offered a plain black canvas coat with soft brown lining. She took it.

It was deliciously warm and felt wonderful on her bare arms as she slid it on.

It was also clean she noted with an approving sniff at the sleeve. It smelled of human laundry detergent – the good kind, not the cheap stuff – some kind of artificial human perfume – aftershave or soap, maybe – and someone's natural scent. Overall, an extremely satisfying piece of covering.

She slipped her hands into the pockets and shivered contentedly.

Okay.

Now that her being cold situation had been dealt with, she could focus on other things.

Like where the hell she was. Or what had happened.

She looked around again and tapped at the ground with her foot. Wherever she was wasn't in Human World – not with icy cold mist that could affect her fire apparition blood and hidden marble floors that accommodatingly spit up anything that one wished for.

Spirit World, perhaps?

Yes, this was exactly the kind of room that Koenma would have in his ridiculous castle.

"Hello?" she called.

"_Hello?"_

"_Hello?"_

"_HELLO?"_

"_HELLO?"_

The echoes of her shout rang throughout the whiteness, getting louder each time until it shook the room.

"Okay, okay," she muttered, hands clapped over her ears. "I get it. You don't like me yelling. Fine, now stop making so much noise."

The thunderous noise stopped.

She most definitely wasn't in Spirit World, Koenma and his overly nosey assistants would've been swooping in to see what had been making all the racket by now.

Was she dead?

She closed her eyes and reached within herself.

Her energy pulsed around her heart in the demon version of a heartbeat.

Nope, not dead.

Could she possibly…could she possibly in her own head?

"Alya?" she whispered. "Are you here?"

Nothing happened.

She sighed.

How did one know if they were in their own head?

Ah, the mirror!

The Self Mirror she had seen before when she had been unconscious…how many days ago had that been?

If she could call one up that would mean she was in her own head.

Which would mean her real body was laid out unconscious somewhere.

"Ummm," she began self-consciously. "Can I see my Self Mirror? I wish I could see it."

There was a sudden bubbling at her feet, as though the mist was boiling in midair, and the top of a gilded mirror arose from the mist.

She backed up as the Self Mirror continued to grow and the mist retreated to create a clean space of a marble floor. Finally, the she stood in a ten foot circle of mist-less floor alone with the mirror.

Well, that answered the question of where she was.

It also answered the question of what had happened to her.

She had been knocked unconscious and was thus stuck in her head until she regained consciousness.

She closed her eyes and tried to wake up.

She opened her eyes, hoping to see Rai and It duking it out.

No such luck.

She was still in her mind with the mirror.

"What are you doing?"

She turned back to the mirror to see a tiny version of herself no older than four or five with her hands clasped behind her back looking up at her older self curiously.

"Nothing. Why do you ask?"

"Just wanted to ask."

"Why?"

The little girl shrugged. "Who are you?"

She pushed her hands deeper into her pockets and shook her head. "No one important. Who are you?"

"My name is Niira."

"That's a good name. Strong and beautiful."

She jumped and spun around to see Alya come striding towards her and the mirror through the thick mist.

The younger version of herself looked from her to Alya, back, then back again. "Who are you?"

The spirit grinned. "I'm the Sky Dragon."

Little Niira eyed her dubiously. "You don't look like a dragon."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"That's what my dad's always saying," Niira complained. "Why can't things just be like they look?"

Alya shrugged and smiled gently. "Because life isn't so simple."

The apparition scowled darkly before asking, "Are you very strong?"

"A bit. I can hold my own."

"What about you?" the young girl turned sharp crimson eyes on her older self.

"I haven't lost yet."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

Suddenly, Niira's head snapped up and around, looking back into the indistinguishable backgrounds of the mirror behind her.

"My father is calling me," she explained. "Good bye."

And then she was gone into the vagueness of the mirror.

Alya smiled after her. "Quite a young lady, wouldn't you say?"

She wasn't interested in idle chit-chat. "What the hell is with you? First, you freak out and nearly split my head open after I nearly shake hands with a Grim Reaper, you don't speak to me even when I'm fighting perverted bastard twice my size and strength and now_ you're acting like nothing ever happened?!"_

Alya looked rather stunned.

"_Well?!"_

"Child, I think you are getting hysterical."

Her voice went deadly cold and fierce. "This isn't hysteria. This is me severely pissed off."

Alya's face darkened. "Why should I tell you, who doesn't even know who she is, who I am?"

"That's usually what happens to people who have amnesia."

"People who take the trouble to make my acquaintance don't generally suffer from amnesia."

"Most people aren't me."

"And who are you? Are you the young woman everyone says you are? Will you really accept what everyone says to you?"

She felt like tearing a chunk of her hair out and it took a great deal of her control to keep herself from raising her voice. "I know who I am. I just don't remember my past."

"Is it not your past that makes you who are?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"A pertinent one. Who are you?"

"I'm me."

"Forgive me," Alya said coldly. "But I did not swear myself to a 'Me'."

"What the hell are you spouting?" Don't raise your voice, don't lose your calm.

"You may have accepted that the others know that you are Niira but you do not accept it yourself."

"Of course I-"

"Do you? At the core of your being do you call yourself Niira or are you simply yourself?"

She was no longer angry – just bemused. "There's a difference?"

"Of course there is. You are Niira. You have made that name mean something, not the other way around. Even if you change your name at your core you will always be Niira. Now, tell me, child. Who are you?"

"Niira. I'm Niira."

Alya smiled enigmatically. "That's right."

The mist around them bubbled and shot up into the air like geysers. In moments all she could see were walls of mist –

Now darkness –

Now images… flashes of faces that she could suddenly name, places she remembered going to, fights she had won… Her life.

Power surged through her veins.

Niira opened her eyes.

**Okay. Stupid chapter. But now we're on to Niira kicking ass!**

**Review!!**


	22. Chapter 22

**OK, I'm not sure how well this came out but I need to post this before I go crazy. I've spent weeks trying to tweak it.**

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 22

Niira stood up and shook silver bangs out of her crimson eyes. She had several bruises, a headache, and a light scratch on her hand. She noted with detached interest that she was still in the canvas jacket in her weird dream…thing.

Alya?

_Present._

Raizen and IT were trading blows so furiously that their strikes were little more than flashes to a human eye.

To her they were almost in slow motion.

Which gave her more time to observe their surroundings – where the hell are we?

_Demon World. _

Location?

_Do you recognize anything?_

She stole a quick glance around. She knew the mountains to the west framed Slaughter Pass, and she remembered traveling through it several times in the past. But…Yes, but I don't know where we are.

_Then it's not important. Now, don't you have a battle to win?_

She moved over to them in less than a nanosecond and stuck her hands into the blur of their limbs to place her hand on Rai's arm.

The way the two were staring at her, she bet that neither of them had even noticed that she was awake, let alone coherent enough to interfere.

Rai blinked in disbelief. "Niira?"

Niira was focusing on her enemy. Somehow, with Alya's strength singing through her veins, this creature no longer seemed so frightening. He was no longer the nightmarish entity that had terrified her before, he was now only Kain – just another perverted suitor. "I've had enough of you. You are going to die."

"Nii? Are you okay?" Rai asked, looking at her nervously.

"Never better," she said absently, waving him off. "Now back off and leave him to me."

"No way in hell," he immediately objected, jerking his tattooed arm out of her grip. "I'm staying with you."

She scowled at her companion. "Whatever. Don't get in my way."

Kain growled at being ignored and flexed his power, striking at the two of them.

The two staggered backwards a step before hiking their own energy signatures to ward off the painful feeling of his energy sliding over their skin.

Gritting her teeth, Niira ducked her head and cupped her hands and summoned the red flames of Human World and launched them towards them toward the enemy. The blaze swallowed his form for a moment before disappearing.

The hulking demon was covered in black soot but was otherwise unaffected.

Until her fist slammed into his gut at which he grunted and bent over sharply. Normally, this was where she would cut off her opponent's head, but as she had lost track of her katana some time ago – probably it was lying in the middle of a forest clearing in Human World. Now she was reduced to blasting the back of his unprotected head with silver flames.

Kain negated them with a powerful energy surge and directed an enormous blast towards her.

Niira growled impatiently before planting her feet firmly into the dirt and raising her hands in front of her. The energy attack hit her hands and was sliced cleanly in two, leaving the separate energies to breeze past her, lifting her hair from her shoulders, and blasting off into the distance behind her.

Rai whistled into her ear. The hair on the back of her neck immediately stood straight up. "That was really, really cool. Can you do that again?"

She shot him – was she blushing? – a glare over her shoulder. "Let's not try to find out, 'kay?"

Before he could answer, she darted away, cupping her hands for a moment, then clenching them into two fists as silver flames sprang up along her arms. She took a deep breath before coming to a direct stop, facing Kain, and shot.

A massive column of sterling silver flames blossomed from her hands in the shape of a snarling dragon and hit Kain directly.

BANG

Niira was blasted off her feet by the backlash of her attack and hit a solid back. "Didn't I tell you to stay out of my way, Rai?"

He scowled childishly, then grabbed her shoulders and dragged her back and down to sit down hard in his lap.

Kain howled like a maniac as he dove over their heads. "Don't speak to her! I forbid it!"

"Can't this guy come up with anything better to say?" Rai complained. "And how many times do we have to blast this bastard before he dies? How many finishing blows have you hit him with?

She didn't try to answer as she blasted him again. Standing up, the earth shuddered beneath her and she staggered, feeling dizzy. "That makes two."

"Then maybe I should contribute something to this?"

Before she could say anything to the contrary, Rai shot a huge Spirit Gun bullet towards their enemy.

"I thought I told you to stay out of this?" she snapped, throwing out another blast.

_Careful, child. Your body isn't designed to handle all of my power. You're going to burn yourself out._

Alya? How do I kill this guy?

_That depends. Do you want to seal him like the late King Raizen did or do you want –_

I want him doornail dead. I thought you said that your power was enough to kill him.

_My power is enough to seal him. But as soon as you're dead, he's unsealed and running around free. This creature's body is tied to his spirit. Unless you can destroy this thing's spirit completely, he's coming back._

You said –

_I said that I knew how to kill him. You'll kill yourself trying to kill him yourself. You need Raizen's help._

If I still need his help what was the point of absorbing you into myself?

_You need two different breeds of power to kill a creature like him. The power of a fire apparition and a half-blooded demon god should do quite nicely in killing him. _**(A/N: Since I couldn't find much about whether Yusuke is actually a full-blooded demon or just a half-demon so I'm just making him a full demon and his son a half demon)**

Wait, are you saying that one person can't kill him on their own?

_That's right. Whether you like it or not, you need this guy's help._

Joy.

"Rai," she hissed out of the side of her mouth. "I need your help with something."

"What?" he hissed back. "You're actually asking for my help?"

"Shocking, isn't it? Look, Alya says that Kain can't be killed by just one person – you need two different types of power to kill him – so I'll need your power."

They were rocked back on their heels as Kain threw an energy wave in front of him as he dove towards them with lightspeed.

Niira simultaneously shoved Rai away as she leapt back and up.

Too late.

He grabbed her ankle and dragged her back towards her.

_Niira! Attack him! Tell Rai to shoot now!_

"Raizen! Shoot him now!" she screamed, snapping her arms together and out towards the enemy even as her back slammed into the dirt.

Silver flames bloomed from her hands and caught on Kain's arm, dancing along his body to smolder on his body.

And then her leg was in agony as Rai's Spirit Gun hit it along with Kain.

_Don't stop!_

"Keep going, Rai!" Niira yelled, fighting lightheadedness. "Whatever you do, don't stop!"

The brilliant silver flames were mixing with fine navy and gold light of Rai's energy blast to create a strange pulse that made the very air tremble around it.

And still Kain had her ankle in a death grip.

And then he was attempting to drag her fully into the attack zone.

She kept one burning hand directed firmly at his body.

The other she wrapped around his arm.

The scream he hadn't let out when they had hit him before tore itself from his throat and he immediately let go of her.

Not bothering to scramble away, Niira again directed her flames towards him.

Suddenly, her flames and Rai's shot froze in midair.

The attacks trembled for a moment before exploding.

Niira saw only brilliant white for a moment then darkness.

**Almost to the end!**

**REVIEW!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Okay… the last chapter before the epilogue!! Feel free to congratulate me!**

Chapter 23

The first thing Niira thought as she opened her eyes was: Damn it, all this passing out cannot be good for me.

The second was: Shit, I hurt like hell.

It took several blinks for her to recognize the two blurs bent over her.

"Father? Rai?"

It was them. Her father, looking incredibly pissed off, and Rai, still sporting his tattoos and looking a lot worse for wear.

A thought struck her.

"What happened to Kain?" she demanded, sitting upright so quickly that her head spun.

"Dead," Rai said grimly. _"And what the fuck were you thinking, running off into the woods alone?!"_

"I'm alive, aren't I?" she responded sullenly.

"_Do you have any idea what could have happened to you if I hadn't been there!?"_

"Well you _were _there, weren't you? It doesn't matter now. Kain's dead and we're not. It's no longer important."

"On the contrary," her father hissed. "I found it very important that you endangered your own life for pride's sake."

"And I wonder who I got that from?" she snarled before she could stop herself.

Hiei looked taken aback for a moment before scowling darkly. "You are far too much like me for your own good."

She looked at him with savage triumph. "Because I am like you, I survived."

"You would not have needed all of that if you had not been so foolhardy," her father tried again.

"My deepest apologies, Father," she said with a mock bow of her head, "Next time I will ask myself, 'What would my father do?'"

Hiei looked ready to strangle her. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again, then closed it again with an audible snap.

Grinding his teeth, he stood up and stalked away. "I'll be waiting for you at Genkai's temple. We will discuss this there. Do not keep me waiting."

Stifling a chuckle, she pushed her sore body to its feet and was caught between indignation and gratefulness when Rai grabbed her shoulders gently to steady her.

Straightening up, she noted interestedly the pile of ash in the center of an impressive crater. "What happened? The last thing I remember was Kain exploding…"

Rai grinned wryly. "Well, I saw that you had passed out and I tried to get you out of there. But I had barely made it over to you when the shit really started to hit the fan –"

"Because everything that happened up until then was such a walk in the park," she interrupted.

His grin widened. "Well, I wasn't going to be able to get you out of there and I knew it, when your dad showed up. He really saved both our asses when he helped me carry you out of the way. Then you woke up. By the way…"

He trailed off and lightly ran his hand along her arm.

"What?" she demanded uncomfortably, jerking her arm out of his grip.

"How did you get my coat?"

She blinked at him in confusion. "What?"

"That jacket you're wearing, it's mine – my favorite as a matter of fact."

Niira flat out gaped at him before looking down at herself. The brown canvas jacket was still wrapped around her, as warm and soft as ever. She raised a wrist to her face and examined a sleeve critically.

Taking a quick whiff, she realized with a start that the scent that she had found so comforting in her dream-vision thing was Rai's scent.

Awkward to say the least.

Not that she had any intention of giving it back.

"I woke up with it on. It's mine."

He scoffed and approached her. With one hand, he extracted the tag from the back collar of the jacket. "Look. It has my name on it."

She looked.

It did.

She still wasn't going to give it back.

"And?"

"And I want it back!"

"Too bad." She stubbornly stuck her hands into the deep jacket pockets and turned in the direction her father had gone. "Let's go back."

A sudden grip on her arm made her turn back towards him.

Rai looked annoyed. "You're not going anywhere 'til I get my jacket back."

"You're not going to get it back, now let's get moving."

She walked away, feeling his grip slacken and his hand slide from her arm.

Then he was in front of her, looking rather…strange.

"What now? You're not getting the jacket."

"If you're going to take the jacket, I want compensation."

"Big word for such a small brain… What kind of compensation?"

He looked at her carefully. "You remember everything now, don't you? About your past?"

"Yes." She wondered where this was going.

Rai smiled rather shyly. "Do you remember when we kissed that night?"

Heat shot up the back of her neck. "Yes."

"Well," he shuffled his feet nervously. "I…I want to see if we still have that spark. I want a kiss."

"Oh." Was it possible to burst into flames without warning?

Apparently so.

"Is that a yes?"

Her hands were clenching and unclenching rather wildly in the pockets of the jacket and her heart was doing the oddest things in her chest.

She licked her lips.

"Yes."

He took a step forward.

Damn him and his long legs! One step and he was already level with her!

Damn her irrational desire to keep the damn jacket.

Damn her overly hormonal body.

Damn her inability to move as he bent his face towards hers.

He kissed her lightly.

Damn…his…lips…

He broke the kiss, looking dazed and uneasy.

"Damn you…" she growled, taking her hands from her pockets. "Who said you could stop?"

Niira grabbed his shoulders and dragged him forward.

This kiss was neither light nor gentle. As soon as their lips touched a second time, Rai's hands rose to her face, cradling her chin and tilting her head for better access.

Her grip on his shoulders loosened and she instead wrapped her arms around his neck.

He deepened the kiss and released her face in favor of her hips.

Holy shit.

If she had realized just how good kissing him could feel…she would have been doing it a long time ago.

As it was, she kissed him back as hard and deep as she could.

She moaned in protest as he drew back. "Why did you –"

Damn.

It.

How the hell could kissing her neck feel just as good as a real kiss between the two of them?

She hummed with the sheer pleasure – pleasure? Please, how about bliss? – of it all, the hair on the back of her neck rising as she caught the sound of him growling as he kissed his way up and down her collar bone.

And then he was back at her lips, plunging and delving deep, while she reciprocated fully, sighing with elation…

But, unfortunately for them both, air is necessary for survival and they finally broke apart.

Niira sighed regretfully and tried to back away, only to be stopped completely as Rai tightened his grip on her and drew her to his chest.

Her heart pounded like a war drum – she noted that his was thumping just as hard and in perfect rhythm with hers – against her rib cage… she had never been held like this.

She had received hugs from others – gentle ones from her aunt, hugs that felt as though they could crush her chest from Kuwabara and Yusuke, and brisk ones from Hina, Hotaru, and Hanako…but never one like this one.

It was strange – terrifying, actually – to be held like this… and yet…

It felt nice.

Nice to press her cheek into his bare shoulder and relax against him. Nice to feel his warmth surrounding her.

Just…nice…

Really, really nice.

He buried his face in her hair and she mumbled into his shoulder.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Stick anything in my hair and I will skin you."

He drew his head back and laughed heartily. "Wouldn't dream of it."

She looked up him suspiciously, opening her mouth to threaten him with further bodily, only to have her breath catch in her throat at the sight of his brown eyes glowing softly down at her.

It took a moment to find her voice. "We should head back. Father's already going to have my hide for this."

She pulled away with some difficulty – neither he nor her legs were willing to let her leave the embrace – and began to walk away.

After a few seconds, Rai appeared at her side looking rather subdued and a bit depressed.

"Rai?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop moping."

"What are you talking about?" he had never been very good at lying. "I'm not moping."

"Good, you have no reason to be moping."

"Why's that?"

"Because I think I love you too."

There was a moment of dead silence and Rai froze, falling behind her.

And then arms were wrapped around her waist and she was lifted off of her feet to the sound of Rai's joyous whooping. "She loves me!"

"I said I _thought_ I _might_ love you!"

_You fell in love with this idiot?_

I didn't say I loved him! I said I thought I loved him! She thought as she yelled angrily and squirmed at the warrior.

Alya's voice was filled with amusement. _Well, the next couple hundred years are going to be fun._

And the spirit settled in the back of her mind, to observe the antics of her young protégé.

**Don't forget to review!**


	24. Epilogue

Epilogue

Raizen Urameshi strode through the courtyard of the Genkai Temple, looking for his wife and children.

They had to be around here somewhere…

Ah! Here they were.

His wife and mate Niira stood among their seven children – three boys and four girls – giving last minute advice and criticism about their fighting performance.

"Hayato, you're still relying only on your fists. Use your legs. Kick!" to their eldest.

"Miyako, stop favoring your left side," to Hayato's twin sister and the eldest daughter.

"Tsubame, I know you hate fighting but unless you start defending yourself, you'll get yourself killed before you can use your healing powers on anyone," to their gentle second daughter.

"Ryuu, keep fighting like that and you'll never earn a sword," to their second son.

"Akane, stop trying to one up your brother and fight smart," to their fifth child.

"Kohaku, same goes for you," to Akane's twin.

"Yumiko, either hit me or stop trying to shoot me – your aim is terrible," to their youngest.

There was general depression at her words – which immediately lifted as his wife sheathed her sword and said, "But since you all didn't do _too_ badly, we'll pull out the ice cream."

Immediately, seven excited young demons bolted for the kitchen, nearly trampling their father.

Niira approached him at a much more sedate pace. "What did Koenma have to say?"

"The same as always."

"Nothing?"

"As always."

There was a short pause before Raizen inquired of his mate. "We did pretty well for ourselves, didn't we?"

"A little too well," Niira groaned, putting a hand on her stomach, which was still flat even after five pregnancies.

He blinked at her for a moment, before bursting out, "Again!"

She scowled at him. "If you would learn to control yourself, this wouldn't keep happening."

"I didn't hear you complaining. You were just as eager as I was." He grinned, wrapped an arm around her waist, and nuzzled her neck. "Maybe even more."

She turned to look up at him. "I don't know why. You're really not that good."

He smirked. "Oh really? I'll just have to disprove that tonight."

They kissed.

Damn it.

Life was good.

Oh! Sooo good.

**IT'S OVER!!!! YEAH!**

**REVIEW!**

**Just some info about the kids.**

**Hayato means falcon. Looks just like his father.**

**Miyako means beautiful night child. Looks just like her mother.**

**Tsubame means wing. Looks just like Yukina.**

**Ryuu means dragon. Looks just like Hiei.**

**Akane means deep red. Black hair and red eyes.**

**Kohaku means amber. Black hair and amber eyes.**

**Yumiko means archery bow child. Silver hair and brown eyes.**


End file.
